Al Pacino on The Godfather sequence that saved him from being fired from the film: 'I wouldn't be here today…' | Scene Stealer - The Indian Express

Yes, that restaurant scene when the young but tired-looking Michael takes out his gun and shoots a civilian for the first time (presumably).

The scene is set, Michael is there to talk to the men responsible for taking down his father (Don Corleone, the titular Godfather, played by Marlon Brando).

Because they kept seeing the rushes, you know, or the footage that was shot, and they kept looking at it and thinking, ‘What is he doing?’” Pacino had told the media outlet at the time.

“I was so confused at that time, and Francis (Ford Coppola, the director) was so supportive, you know, and so helping me in it, all of it.

And then speaking specifically of the restaurant scene, Pacino stated, “Without the great Sterling Hayden and … little Al Lettieri (his co-actors in the scene), I wouldn’t be here today.

They’d have let me go  — even Francis couldn’t stop them,” Pacino concluded.

I’m thankful to Sterling Hayden and Al Lettieri too, but mostly to Al Pacino, for delivering a masterful act in a masterful movie.