Both ofRobert De Niro’s Oscar wins were weirdly predicted by an iconic scene fromThe Godfather, eight years before he would complete his dual Academy Award victory. Throughout his career, De Niro has been nominated for a grand total of nine Oscars. He was nominated for Best Actor forTaxi Driver,The Deer Hunter,Raging Bull,Awakenings, andCape Fear; he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor forThe Godfather Part II,Silver Linings Playbook, andKillers of the Flower Moon; and he was nominated for Best Picture as a producer ofThe Irishman.
But De Niro has only ever won two Oscars.His first Academy Award win was Best Supporting Actor for Francis Ford Coppola’sThe Godfather Part II, in which he played the younger version ofVito Corleone in the prequel timelinefilling in his backstory. Then, six years later, he earned Best Actor for his sobering portrayal of volatile boxer Jake LaMotta inMartin Scorsese’s black-and-white biopicRaging Bull. Both of these Oscar wins were oddly foreshadowed by a scene in the firstGodfathermovie.
A Scene In The Godfather Combines Both Of Robert De Niro’s Oscar Roles
A Jake LaMotta Poster Can Be Seen When Vito Corleone Is Shot
An early scene inThe Godfathercontains references to both of De Niro’s Oscar-winning roles. During the first act ofThe Godfather,after Vito Corleone refuses to invest in the Turk’s heroin business, the Turk sends a couple of assassins to kill him. Vito is gunned down in the street while his useless son Fredo watches helplessly. This scene introducedThe Godfather’s iconic orange symbolism, but it also featured both of the roles that would go on to win Oscars for De Niro.
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This scene’s most obvious reference to an Oscar-winning De Niro role is Vito himself, whose younger incarnation would be played by De Niro in the sequel. Butthere’s also a poster for a LaMotta fightposted in the shop window that Vito walks past. Since Coppola couldn’t have known De Niro would eventually play LaMotta to universal acclaim, the poster wasn’t included as an intentional teaser — it’s just there to immerse audiences in the historical milieu ofThe Godfather’s period setting— but it’s a fun Easter egg in hindsight.
De Niro Auditioned To Play Sonny Corleone Before James Caan Was Cast
Before James Caan was cast to play Sonny Corleone, De Niro auditioned for the part (viaIndieWire). Coppola described De Niro’s audition for Sonny as “unforgettable,” butParamount decided to go with Caan. Coppola offered the then-unknown De Niro a smaller role as Paulie Gatto, but De Niro turned it down to take a larger role inThe Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight. Coppola never forgotRobert De Niro’s brilliant audition, so when he was presented with the “daunting” task of casting young Vito forThe Godfather Part II, he knew which actor would be up to the challenge.
