The other more infamous casting setback occurred when winona ryder who was set to play michael s daughter mary corleone dropped out of the picture on the first day of shooting. For winona it was a terrible deal and pretty much made the difference between the ok career she s had so far and the awesome career she could have had. Godfather iii pales in comparison to parts i and ii two of the greatest movies ever made but it s still an excellent shakespearean beautifully shot and acted movie.
After ryder s film debut in lucas 1986 she gained attention with her performance in tim burton s beetlejuice 1988. Winona laura horowitz born october 29 1971 known professionally as winona ryder is an american actress and film producer she is the recipient of a golden globe award and has been nominated for two academy awards a bafta award and four screen actors guild awards. Coproducer fred ros recalls that.
Her father had been juggling godfather iii s rome shooting schedule for weeks waiting for winona ryder to finish her work on mermaids and join the production. The godfather part iii is a 1990 american epic crime film produced and directed by francis ford coppola from the screenplay co written with mario puzo it is the third and final installment in the godfather trilogy a sequel to the godfather 1972 and the godfather part ii 1974 it completes the story of michael corleone the patriarch of the corleone family who attempts to legitimize his. Mere mention of the film causes her to shut her eyes in pain.
The godfather part iii that pushed her over the top. Winona ryder asked richard benjamin director of mermaids. Ryder had just marathoned through three film shoots and contracted an upper respiratory infection during the production of mermaids causing her to collapse at her hotel in rome in december 1989.
As i m sure many people know ryder was originally cast as mary corleone in the godfather part iii but dropped out due to health concerns. Her father s family is russian jewish and romanian jewish. She is the daughter of cynthia istas an author and video producer and michael horowitz a publisher and bookseller.
Winona ryder was born winona laura horowitz in olmsted county minnesota and was named after a nearby town winona minnesota. When winona ryder withdrew from the film laura san giacomo and linda fiorentino were considered for the role of mary corleone before francis ford coppola decided his daughter sofia should play the part even re writing the script for the part to match sofia s age in the original draft the character was more than five years older.
