Martin Scorsese’s mob film The Irishman about Frank Sheeran’s (Robert DeNiro) involvement as a hitman in the Bufalino crime family and his potential involvement in Jimmy Hoffa’s disappearance has been making splashes among the internet the last week since it’s release on Netflix.
It features countless scenes of masterful acting performances by legends Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci, as well as countless others including Ray Romano, Bobby Cannavale, and Stephen Graham. Mosty notably is DeNiro and Pesci’s fantastic charisma together on screen together again and pulling Pesci out of retirement. Fans went crazy for the reunion and the results have been nothing less than amazing.
Perhaps one of the biggest surprises and best scenes from The Irishman doesn’t involve a direct conversation between DeNiro and Pacino, or Pesci! Rather Stephen Graham, portraying Tony Provenzano, and his adlibbing of two different scenes with Al Pacino. Before we discuss “that” scene, let’s talk about another one, the one in the prison cafeteria.
In the scene Tony “Pro” has just learned that his pension is gone because he was arrested for extortion. In Pacino’s words, “he threatened someone, I didn’t threaten anybody.” This plays into a huge difference between Pacino’s Jimmy Hoffa and Graham’s Tony Provenzano. Hearing that he has no pension grows steadily inside Tony until he snaps on Hoffa, slapping a bowl of ice cream off the table and pouncing on him.
Apparently this was improvised by Stephen Graham and “scared” Al Pacino. Worried he had upset everyone or insulted Pacino with his improv, Graham quickly asked if it was okay. Pacino praised him and told everyone to look at what the “kid” did. The “kid” scared me Pacino jokes.
Now, let’s get to “that scene“. The scene where Tony Provenzano shows up late to the meeting with Jimmy Hoffa after their release from prison. Hoffa needs Provenzano’s support to run again for his union role, to the chagrin of Tony.
That’s the setup, where we get the truly amazing moment is in the argument that proceeds. A simple discussion of Jimmy explaining that he’s never waited for anyone longer than ten minutes for a meeting. Provenzano disagrees with this, bring up traffic and adding an extra five minutes. An odd but serious back and forth takes place, slowly building tension.
Stephen Graham goes on in the interview to talk about his other act of improvisation. He says, “I was sitting there in a scene with Robert DeNiro and he’s not doing anything.” So Graham brings him into the scene. It’s a small line from DeNiro but a well-remembered line. During the argument about ten or fifteen minutes, without notice of Graham pulling him in, DeNiro quickly acts upon it and questions, “What about twelve-and-a-half?”
It may not seem like much on paper but the improvised moments that Graham brings to The Irishman build tension and acts up to the level of DeNiro and Pacino.
Take a look at the full interview below and hear Stephen Graham himself talk about the terrifying moments of improvising in front of them and what it was like shooting the famous scene.
