James Caan Improvised Some of the Most Memorable Moments in ‘The Godfather’
James Caan is likely best known for his celebrated portrayal of Sonny Corleone in The Godfather. It was one of Caan’s star-making performances and earned him his first and only Oscar nomination. The actor grew up in the same New York neighborhood as director Francis Ford Coppola. He said that, at least partly because of this, Coppola allowed him to improvise freely in the film. He shared some of the ad-libbed moments.
James Caan received his first and only Oscar nomination for ‘The Godfather’
Caan had been working as an actor for years, but his role in The Godfather snagged him his first Oscar nomination. When looking back on his career, he felt frustrated that he never actually won the prestigious award.
“I really do wish I had an Academy Award,” he told The Independent in 2021. “But listen, here’s what you gotta know. Number one: anybody who gets cancer [in a movie] automatically wins the Academy Award that year. Number two: I sound like I’m bitter, and I am!”
Many of his performances have been deemed Oscar-worthy, but he never received another nomination.
He said Francis Ford Coppola let him improvise during the film
Caan felt a sense of camaraderie with Coppola because they grew up in the same neighborhood.
“Francis was really good to me,” he told the A.V. Club in 2022. “I come from Sunnyside, Francis did too. His grandmother lived around the corner from me and we behaved in certain ways, so he let me go pretty much.”
He shared some of his favorite improvised moments from the film.
“For example, when those guys are taking down the telephone numbers outside the wedding with the FBI and he spits on them and he walks down back into the wedding. Well, the rest of the people out in front were extras and there was one guy playing a photographer who had one of those old box cameras, and as I went in there, I grabbed the friggin’ thing and I smashed it, literally threw it on the ground. I didn’t know I was gonna do it. Nobody knew I was gonna do it, but I just did it. I was just impulsive and did that.”
He tossed $40 on the ground after smashing the camera because “where I’m from, like if you put the money on the ground, it’s okay. You’re forgiven. You know what I mean? I paid for it, and forget it.”
Caan also improvised the phrase “bada bing,” which has since appeared in series like The Sopranos. Per The Independent, he heard real-life mobster Carmine Persico drop the line while researching the film and decided to use it.
James Caan shared his favorite scene from ‘The Godfather’
Caan explained that he had several favorite scenes in the film. One of his top was a scene with himself, Marlon Brando, and Robert Duvall. As Duvall and Brando spoke, Caan began to open a walnut. Soon, though, he started to worry he was upstaging Brando. As it turned out, he had no reason for concern.
“When he said cut, Brando started punching his fist and laughed and said, that was great. I said, what are you talking about?” he said. “Because he was talking about Sonny not being a Don, like his mind is so scattered and whatever with the girls, with this and that. And the idea that I was playing with the f***in’ nut proves it when he’s talking about serious business. So that turned out great. So that was a good scene.”
