‘The Offer’s’ Anthony Ippolito on Being Intimidated to Play Al Pacino: ‘It Makes You Want to Throw Up’

Honoring one of the greatest films ever made presents a monumentally tall task to any actor. The stars of the new Paramount+ series reflected on what “The Godfather” means to them in light of their new roles in “The Offer.”

“I think, more than anything else, it’s a nice reminder for us actors and creative types that even on one of the greatest movies ever made, it almost fell apart,” Colin Hanks told Variety at the Los Angeles premiere on Wednesday night. “It could’ve fallen apart at any moment. And so, it sort of gives you a little bit of wind in your sails to keep going, no matter what happens.”

“The Offer” follows the highly tumultuous behind-the-scenes story of Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 classic through the eyes of producer Albert S. Ruddy, played by Miles Teller. Hanks plays Barry Lapidus, a stern Gulf & Western executive who was against making “The Godfather.”

“I got to be the guy that comes in and stirs the pot,” Hanks explained. “I got to be the bad guy that says ‘No’ with a smile. Every time Barry Lapidus walked into a room, everyone all of a sudden was on edge. That’s a fun role. That’s a good position to be in. So I had a blast.”

Co-star Matthew Goode plays Robert Evans, the legendary Paramount Pictures executive who greenlit “The Godfather.” Goode explained the difficulty of getting into the the character of Evans.

“You can go down so many wormholes on YouTube,” Goode told reporters on the carpet. “So I spent hours and hours on it, and I found one particular interview that I thought was brilliant because it summed up his personality. He sort of was so un-PC about Robert Redford and all that, and so I captured a lot from that. But still he’s not a private man, so I got to turn him up to 11 at some moments. And I get a great arc because the ups and downs for him are pretty massive in this.”

Anthony Ippolito, who plays Al Pacino, admitted playing the acting icon was “super intimidating.”

“It’s pretty terrifying, it makes you want to throw up,” he told Variety. “But it’s also a freaking honor, and it’s one of the coolest things that I’ve done as an actor. And it made me feel a huge weight of responsibility, but I had so much fun.”

The first three episodes of “The Offer” debut April 28 on Paramount+ in the U.S.