Robert De Niro pays tribute to Francis Ford Coppola at AFI Life Achievement Award
Robert De Niro may need missed out on The Godfather, however because it seems, that was the most effective coincidence he might have requested for. Through the AFI Life Achievement Award gala honoring Francis Ford Coppola on the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, De Niro and Al Pacino shared some heartfelt — and hilarious — recollections from their days working with the legendary filmmaker.
“Francis, thank you for not casting me in The Godfather,” De Niro stated to a room stuffed with laughter and applause.
“It was the best job I ever, never got. And it meant I was available for The Godfather Part II. Francis, you changed my career, you changed my life. We’re all here tonight because of you. We love you.”
After Pacino’s unforgettable flip as Michael Corleone within the 1972 adaptation of Mario Puzo’s novel, the sequel took issues even deeper, following the parallel tales of father and son — with De Niro entering into the sneakers of a younger Vito Corleone, a task initially made iconic by Marlon Brando.
Pacino kicked off his personal tribute by borrowing some knowledge straight from Coppola himself.
“‘The things you do when you’re young that you get fired for, are the same things that years later, they give you lifetime achievement awards for.’”
With a chuckle, he added, “You know, none of us were fired from The Godfather, but some of us got pretty close. I got the closest.
And Francis just fought for us all the time.”
He added, “He fought for his film and his vision, which he always does. Yet, it could have gotten him fired. Everything was a firing threat. It could have had all of us fired, but it didn’t.
Now, years later, here we all are to celebrate him for it. So, thank you Francis. Thank you for believing in me even more than I believed in myself. I am eternally grateful in kind to be part of your Godfather family.”
Coppola’s affect on cinema can hardly be overstated.
With masterpieces like The Godfather, The Godfather Half II, and Apocalypse Now locked into AFI’s 100 Years…100 Films listing, and 6 Academy Awards below his belt, his storytelling legacy stretches far past the Corleone saga.
His fingerprints are additionally throughout different iconic movies like Patton, American Graffiti, The Dialog, The Outsiders, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula — and that’s simply scratching the floor.
