Andy Garcia says one of the most important ‘Godfather III’ scenes was a reshoot — and he only had a few hours to learn his lines
In 1990, “The Godfather Part III” opened in theaters and completely changed Andy Garcia’s life. Playing Vincent, the illegitimate son of Sonny Corleone, he delivered a captivated performance that would lead to an Oscar nomination and define his career.
Garcia has been able to think back on the experience recently with the rerelease of the movie, retitled “The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Micheal Corleone,” which features editing tweaks by director Francis Ford Coppola. And the scene that stands out most for him is one that Coppola didn’t feel was right until reshoots.
Garcia said the toughest scene to pull off while making “Godfather III” was the transfer of power scene. It’s the moment in which Michael hands off the title of Godfather in the Corleone family to Vincent.
“That’s a scene that you better get right,” Garcia told Insider with a laugh.
The powerful scene happens toward the end of the movie. Garcia’s Vincent character has become the right-hand-man of Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) and has fallen for Michael’s daughter, Mary (Sofia Coppola).
While in Italy, Vincent informs Michael of the people who have turned against the family and that a Sicilian assassin is out to kill him. Vincent wants to be given the order to kill them all, but Michael knows that if he does, his dream of making the Corleone family legitimate will never happen. Michael finally transfers his power to Vincent to do what must be done. However, he tells Vincent he must “give up my daughter. It’s the price you pay for the life you choose.” Vincent agrees.
Garcia said the transfer of power scene was one Coppola tinkered with throughout the five-month shoot of the movie. But it wasn’t until principal photography wrapped that Coppola felt he got it right.
“Francis wrote that scene after he assembled the movie a little bit and we went back to New York,” Garcia said. “That’s when he shot that scene.”
So though the scene is set in Italy, it was really shot in New York months after the main shooting ended. Garcia said what was great about doing a scene of that importance during reshoots was the history he already had with Pacino.
“Al and I had months and months already of working together,” he said. “I was very proud of the work Al and I did in that scene.”
That trust with one another certainly helped in this instance as Garcia and Pacino didn’t have much time to prepare.
“The pages came out that morning and we shot it in the afternoon,” Garcia said.
