The relationship of John Cazale with Robert De Niro and Meryl Streep will make you cry.
Cazale only made five films:
The Godfather, The Conversation, The Godfather Part II, Dog Day Afternoon & The Deer Hunter.
All five were nominated for Best Picture. Every. Single. One.
De Niro met Cazale during The Godfather Part II. He admired him deeply and considered him one of the most talented actors of his generation. They became very close friends.
Not long after, director Michael Cimino approached De Niro about starring in The Deer Hunter, a film about the Vietnam War. Studios were hesitant to finance it because the war was still recent, so Cimino relied on De Niro’s star power to secure funding.
De Niro agreed — on one condition: he wanted to bring some of his friends onto the project, including Christopher Walken and John Cazale.
That’s when Cazale revealed devastating news. He had been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. He was only 41 years old and had months to live.
The studio refused to insure him due to the risk. If he died during production, it would cost millions.
De Niro stepped in. He made it clear that if Cazale wasn’t cast, he wouldn’t do the film either. To reassure the producers, De Niro personally covered the insurance cost required to hire Cazale — and he did it without Cazale knowing.
Production scheduled all of Cazale’s scenes first, just in case.
According to those on set, he never complained. Not once.
John Cazale hesitated at first, but agreed to do the film on one condition: that his girlfriend at the time — an unknown actress named Meryl Streep — would also appear in the movie.
From that film, Streep received her first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, launching one of the greatest careers in cinema history.
John Cazale died in March 1978, before The Deer Hunter was released. He never saw it win Best Picture.
Five films.
Five Best Picture nominees.
A short life. A permanent legacy.
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