Al Pacino, a National Medal of Arts recipient in February, may turn his attention to portraying Joe Paterno in a film.
(JASON REED / Reuters)
Al Pacino as Joe Paterno?
The Oscar-winning actor is interested in portraying the late Penn State coach, who was fired last November in the wake of the burgeoning child sex-abuse scandal involving his former assistant, Jerry Sandusky. Pacino’s talent agency, ICM, confirmed to Reuters a Deadline.com report that Pacino is looking into a film or television project based on Joe Posnanski’s best-seller, “Paterno,” that is being shopped around Hollywood.
No screenplay has been written and no director attached to the project yet, according to Reuters. Posnanski’s book encompasses the coach’s life from legendary winner to his last months in disgrace after being fired. Paterno died in January at the age of 85.
Playing a coach is nothing new for Pacino, who is 72. In Oliver Stone’s “Any Given Sunday,” he played fictional coach Tony D’Amato and showed that he has the locker-room speech stuff down. (Watch here with earmuffs for profanity.) Nor is portraying a nonfictional character new. Pacino starred as Jack Kevorkian in the HBO film “You Don't Know Jack” and portrays Phil Spector, the record producer and convicted murderer, in an upcoming HBO film.
Setting aside for a moment the question of whether anyone really wants to see a movie about the late Penn State coach and the Sandusky scandal, is Pacino the best choice to play Paterno?
And the bigger question: who would play Sandusky?
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Sandusky convicted of child sex abuse
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