Marlon Brando Resorted To Semi-N*dity To Drive Away Mob Enforcers Who Stalked ‘The Godfather’ Stars
Late actor Marlon Brando rose to fame for his portrayal of Stanley Kowalski in 1951’s A Streetcar Named Desire. The actor went on to receive his first Academy Award nomination for his spectacular performance. After starring in a couple of successful movies, Marlon Brando picked projects, that were not very successful at the box office, and his successful career took a downturn.
But then the actor went on to star as Vito Corleone in 1972’s The Godfather and his performance in the movie is regarded as the finest in the art form’s history. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, the movie was one of the highest-grossing movies at the time. It is considered one of the most influential movies of all time as well as a landmark for gangster movies. Marlon Brando was not only the patriarch in the movie but also throughout the filming. Let’s find out how.
Also read: Two Stars from The Godfather Surprisingly Have One Thing in Common – Al Pacino’s Not One of Them
Marlon Brando mooned at the mob enforcers to stop them from following the stars of The Godfather
Marlon Brando according to an X account had decided to take matters into his own hands after the mob enforcers started to follow the actors around. The X account tweeted,
“At some point, Brando, Al Pacino and Robert Duvall were driven off-set in a car when their driver spotted a suspicious-looking cast of characters traveling at the same speed and distance, eyeing them.”
It further shared,
“Brando said he had enough of those mob b***tards, rolled down the car window, pulled down his pants all the way, and mooned them! Duvall later said of the event that his famous co-star pulled his pants down just a little too much.”
The Godfather is known to be a landmark in gangster movies, which got the mafia at the time curious about what was happening in the movie. It had been reported that the mob actively followed the actors at the time. Brando’s mooning at the mob enforcer had led to the mob sending wrestler and doorman Lenny Montana to play the part of Luca Brasi.
Lenny Montana was a fan of Brando who helped him during the filming. Suddenly, Montana was a real-life mobster turned into an actor working on The Godfather. He credits his performance on-screen to Brando.
Robert Duvall recalls working with Marlon Brando on The Godfather
During an interview with EW, Robert Duvall who played Tom Hagen in the movie reflected upon his time spent with Marlon Brando on the sets of The Godfather. He said,
“Brando, he takes what you give and he was like a godfather to us. Dustin Hoffman, Gene Hackman and I would meet once a week at a drugstore in New York City years ago. If we mentioned Brando’s name once, we would mention it 25 times because he was an inspiration to a lot of young actors.”
The actor also touched upon Brando’s habit of using cue cards for saying lines, which was pointed as to be a symptom of laziness or his age. However, Duvall said that it was just a part of his acting process and no one had an issue with him saying lines via cue cards.
Talking about the late actor, Duvall added,
“He was revolutionary in his way of being very natural but within pulses still being able to keep it alive emotionally.”
Duvall also mentioned that the success of the movie has to be credited to Coppola who was keen on listening to what the actors experimented with or what would they bring to the table. He added they all admired his determination to stand his ground against the studio.
The Godfather is available to stream on me Paramount+.
