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An inspiration and a mentor to many, Francis Ford Coppola is responsible for influencing and redefining the importance of original screenplay in cinema. The Godfather trilogy, being his best work, hasn’t been challenged yet in over fifty years of filmmaking.

The film’s sequel – The Godfather Part II got him an Academy Award for best picture, along with three more wins for best director and screenplay. His landslide victory was made possible as he used some notorious tricks to bring out the best in actors.

Still from The Godfather

Al Pacino and Robert De Niro’s magical screen presence was the result of Coppola’s own remarkable ability to capture actors’ performance when they are comfortable and left to their own imagination of a character’s personality.

Seven years after he was done with the threequel, Coppola took up a project with then-rising star Matt Damon, and the actor was made to go through a harrowing experience.

Matt Damon Can’t Forget His Days Filming The Rainmaker

Going up against veteran actor Jon Voight’s Leo F. Drummond as a newbie lawyer was not the only problem that Matt Damon faced.

Before method acting was a thing, directors as revered as Coppola made use of physically challenging tactics to tap into the potential of an actor.

The Rainmaker (1997)

The screenplay for The Rainmaker (1997) had a lot of angles that put Matt Damon through intense sequences that invoked strong emotions, such as getting involved with an abused woman for one.

Damon’s character was written in a way that he was not afraid to pick a bone with powerful people with the intention to put down the corrupt and bring justice to his clients.

Matt Damon’s First Experience With Rocks In His Shoes

Francis Ford Coppola knew from the very beginning that Rudy Baylor had this sense of righteousness and picked this painful technique to push Matt Damon’s limits.

In a conversation with the Hot Ones, the 52-year-old actor expressed his ordeal –

“That was a scene in which I was supposed to be uncomfortable. I was walking into a meeting, and there were like 15 really high-powered lawyers. Francis put rocks in my shoes, and then just told me to walk normally.”

Francis Ford Coppola

“Try to act as comfortable as you can, you don’t want them to see how uncomfortable you are,” said Coppola while filming the scene.

Matt Damon had two films lined up – Good Will Hunting, being the other that released just a month later. His career spiraled upward by building an image of a capable guy stuck in nasty situations through his films.

Suggested: Emily Blunt Felt Her ‘Oppenheimer’ Co-star Matt Damon Used To Be in Love With Batman Star Before Auditioning For His Critically Panned Film

Currently, the actor can be seen helping his co-actor Cillian Murphy carry out the world’s first atomic bomb test in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer – released on July 21.

Source: Showbiz Cheat Sheet