Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

The Irishman: Stephen Graham reveals improvised scene that took Al Pacino by surprise

Actor said working with his heroes was like his ‘Champions League final’

Ellie Harrison
Sunday 15 December 2019 16:28 GMT
Comments
The Irishman: Official Trailer Premiere

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Stephen Graham has revealed how he improvised in a stand-out scene in The Irishman, a move that took his co-star Al Pacino by surprise.

Graham and Pacino star in Martin Scorsese’s gangster epic alongside Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci.

Speaking about what it was like to star in a film with his heroes, Graham said: “I don’t know if it’s quite sunk in yet. It was my Champions League final. These are the people I grew up watching, revering and wanting to emulate, so for that little kid from Kirkby to be working with them was amazing.”

He told the Observer New Review: “But I still took that playfulness and eagerness into the performance. We improvised so much. I slapped an ice-cream out of Al Pacino’s hand, which he wasn’t expecting. I threw a line at Bobby De Niro and he came straight back with the best reply. Those scenes were a joy.”

Pacino’s character Jimmy Hoffa loves ice cream. He consumes four sundaes during the film’s three-and-a-half-hours.

Hoffa’s affinity for ice cream is mentioned once briefly in I Heard You Paint Houses, the Charles Brandt book on which the film is based, but Scorsese appears to have capitalised on that single mention.

Pacino recently said: "When I took the role, I was like, ‘You mean I get to eat ice cream in this part? I'm in.’”

Graham recently spoke about improvisation on the set of The Irishman in The Independent's interview with him, De Niro and Pacino.

“I’ve worked with the odd idiot," he said, "which makes things difficult, but as huge iconic figures as Al and Bob are, the men I experienced as actors had no egos.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in