Uncovering the "Godfather" Secrets: Gianni Russo Reveals All! - Part 1

hello Carlo those two words are among the most memorable lines in what many feel is the greatest film of all time Gianni Russo played Carlo Rizzi Don Corleone's son-in-law in the Francis Ford Coppola masterpiece The Godfather although his iconic performance defined his character Johnny's personal life reads more like a screenplay in itself we're riding with the Hollywood Godfather or Marlon Brando initially called this guy and the Mafia called the kid but like us you'll call him a tastemaker Gianni Russo how are you I'm great as always thank God we're going to Patsy's one of my favorite restaurants in New York my idol is Frank Sinatra early on and he created a dish called veal Milanese with arugula and fresh tomatoes on top are you ready to go I'm ready it's ugly to thuggery tastemakers is about the person behind the personality and with you that person is more fascinating than any on-screen character got it was so funny because I don't even know who that character is anymore your memoir Hollywood Godfather it reads like an author's imagination gone wild in a fiction book but this is your real life yeah I know it's crazy I wrote it in 95 the first order and then I kept elaborating on it and then my kids were maturing and I said you know what I'm gonna wait a while and then I was told the wait a while by several people because they didn't want to mentioned in the book and it reads like good fellows meets far as gobo as a child you spent five years in a hospital isolated with polio but that was a time when that was more of a death sentence why do you think that you survived well I'm spiritually so locked to church and God and and I I think my belief in that really made me want to leave and live that's why I noticed so many doctors because they're interested in how I did this doctor Tiwari was a genius for me I'll tell you something that's an out of the book I got shot about six years ago from my building six times and I was in New York Presbyterian within five minutes and thank God they got him because he's a urologist and they shot me well through my lower stomach even on the operating but they never thought I'd come out of it and he does all that robotic operation and that was all knew if I got shot ten years before that I would have bled out you found an unlikely father figure and Frank Costello yeah he was such a gentle man until I was months later until I found out who he was the old time is I know the wall I mean from Sicily to here they're not the Tony Soprano so let's birth that way most newcomers forget that Cosa Nostra is a secret organization all these young guys they destroyed that thing it is my lawyer always keeps oh don't say that thing of ours because I would not in it everybody thinks I was made they wanted to give me a button I said I don't even use a zipper I don't I want my kids to understand what I went through especially my last two kids because that's when I had to leave the country but now it's time to say you know if you want to talk to Daddy of yeah yeah there's a lot of things that they may read that they had the idea they had no idea why I left especially like my last two kids there's a chapter in the book called my involvement in the crime of the century Kennedy I know I can't believe that I mean it to me you know again I I always kept my mouth shut I took the longest time I was gonna grow up to have the shortest snake in the world indirectly I was part of this thing without knowing thank God I mean I was questioned by everybody from bald I'm what did you think I didn't know it was night at the law you can put a lie detector at me everything I did not know as a guy who always kept his mouth shut those are your words you're quite talkative in this memoir I don't care anymore I mean people what I'm gonna do today I mean so many people don't you afraid of this one that one you're talking to a guy that spent three days in Pablo Escobar's torture chamber and and Gaudi thought I'd never come home I said why he arranged the trip John Gotti the funniest story when he wanted to meet Marlon Brando when we were shooting the fresh from an old Mulberry Street so now I'm looking at John Gotti and my father Lord Don Corleone fictitious Godfather and they watched Monday Night Football together the last sense in the book is yes you can if you believe in yourself go to it I want people especially young kids tonight because everybody's saying if you don't have these diplomas you can't get anywhere everything is education which I totally encourage education I've had none don't use that as an excuse if you have a dream thinking to yourself and go for it but what's crazy about this whole thing is that the movie The Godfather may not have been made if it wasn't for you that was definitely no III got to Joe Colombo's ego and greed then we negotiated a deal and if I got the deal on I was to play Michael Sonia Karl what's your favorite movie line from there I liked what Brando vs said Joey I think the quotes about a man's not a man unless he spends time with his family I'm that good person I didn't I didn't have the privilege to Marlon Brando thought you were giving your own personal audition to him well they implicitly or in addition believe me what happened in that table read Brando comes walking over to me he said you're a big TV actor I smell got a big movie coming out I said Noah is who just study with I study what so he called Coppola over his his Francis this guy's playing my son he's yeah I know and he was very likely receiving we couldn't fire me he broke down the script as a thespian he marries my daughter he undermines our family he sells out my oldest son to the barzinis gets him killed when we don't cooperate I think you should rethink this and I don't know protocol on this on the set I dismissed the director I said Frances forward in a minute I put my arm around Brando and I walked into the back of the room and I didn't want to insult the guy in front of everybody and the whole room you could hear a pin drop but you know everybody's like saying who the f is this guy and I turned him around in a very low voice because I don't want him draw any attention let me just tell yourself okay you set this up for me I will suck on your heart if I get fired I'll kill you he stepped back I thought it was gonna call the cop she said that was brave you could really do this boy that was great it was acting your on-screen relationship with Sonny and your real-life relationship with James Caan not not too far off that fight scene was a little realistic it went beyond the script but went way beyond the scrimmage Jimmy I don't know what he had with this problem with me he thought he was Sonny Corleone cuz you really hurt me and he didn't after but again I thought was acting I never acted before so when he first chipped my elbow with the garbage pail cover I said wow this is crazy then when the he drop kicks me and I roll over to the hydrant he lifted me up from two ribs on me and we choreographed this for two days where is that garbage can cover now so my bar it's on your body you love it it took me a long time to get it everyone always remember you where they were on 9/11 you were with oh my god I'm a President Bill Clinton man my man bill nobody has charisma like Clinton and I I heard it until I hung I was room for five days we partied a lot what was your reaction when Hillary Clinton's people tried to ask you about that was a joke we just did Howard Stern just got off the air one of our sisters called me and said mrs. Clinton is very upset with you her and Bill have an arrangement that they don't speak about his escapades in public I said great I don't have an arrangement we're hung up she called me back they said when she be come president you're gonna regret that I should tell her this when she becomes president I'm leaving the country are you a romantic oh yeah what is left I would know most of my kids were conceived on my boat which is why the same place same boat yeah okay well after all that finish this sentence for me before I die I'd like to oh you guessed a good question before I die I want to have a best-selling book when an Oscar for a movie that I wrote for a part of which hopefully it's this one and keep helping people that need help that don't want to help themselves but I think if you want to help yourself I'll show you how to do that we're approaching Patsy's it kind of makes me think when was the last time you were in a vehicle with all these cameras it was about 48 years ago Longfellow Road in Staten Island and Michael came to see me and he told me he was sending me to Vegas what a mistake I get to the car and when I saw Clemenza in the backseat I saw and I got in the car unfortunately like you're saying you didn't see this in the movie but all these lights and cameras will mount it on the hood of the car because France is one of the authenticity of my feet going through the windshield when I got in the car today and so all these lights I started to feel glass in my shoes again that's the last time pleasantly I'm sitting up straight and I'm gonna be able to walk out and have a great meal now

Channel: Celebrity Taste Makers

Views: 98,555

Keywords: Taste Makers, tastemakers, Lisa Mateo, PIX11, wpix, pix 11, food, fame, new york, Gianni, Gianni Russo, Hollywood Godfather

Id: T4-j9YIfU9A

Length: 10min 28sec (628 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 10 2019