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Heard this bit of trivia on a radio show recently...
The actor who played Luca Brasi in The Godfather (1972) was named Lenny Montana.
He had little acting experience before this movie as he had been a professional wrestler and allegedly had been an actual mob enforcer himself!
The story has it that Montana was very nervous preparing for his scenes and had trouble remembering his lines. So, on the set, just before his first scene, Montana was seen & heard rehearsing his lines (what he'd say to Marlon Brando) out loud.
Several people took note of Montana's rather plodding & amateurish memorization technique including Director Francis Ford Coppola.
Coppola was so amused by Montana's nervous line rehearsing that he included Montana doing it (in the character of Luca Brasi) and had "Kay" (Diane Keaton) point it out in the film, just as on-the-set staff had been doing, before going in to greet Don Corleone (Marlon Brando).
A case where a bit of real-life character was carried over and placed into a film's character.
Last edited by Captain Steel; 06-08-22 at 05:45 PM.