I’ve been getting plenty of offers recently that have been really difficult to refuse from publicists for cable, streaming and broadcast networks to do Zoom calls about new programs.
It is impossible for any critic to keep track of all the promising looking series arriving this spring with big name stars attached, including Julia Roberts and Sean Penn (Starz’s “Gaslit”), Amy Schumer (Hulu’s “Life & Beth”) Amanda Seyfried (Hulu’s “The Dropout”) and Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway (Apple TV+’s “WeCrashed”).
But the offer I couldn’t resist was with the cast and production team behind “The Offer,” a 10-hour Paramount+ series premiering April 28 about the making of “The Godfather,” the 1972 movie classic produced by Al Ruddy that was based on the Mario Puzo novel.
The film deals with all the obstacles Ruddy dealt with, including it being made against the wishes of Frank Sinatra and his mobster friends that felt it stereotyped Italian Americans. Some executives of the film company that financed it also weren’t happy it was being filmed.
People are also reading…
And, of course, there was a Buffalo angle: Patrick Gallo, the actor playing Puzo in the series, was born in Buffalo.
In the series, Puzo develops a close friendship with Francis Ford Coppola, who was brought in to help the author adapt his book into a screenplay and to direct what became a film classic. Puzo and Coppola shared an Oscar for the screenplay, the film was named best picture and Marlon Brando as the title character earned the Oscar for best actor.
Gallo’s performance in “The Offer” was praised by a critic early in the Zoom call who added he didn’t know much about the Puzo character.
I didn’t know much about Gallo, either. This may be his most visible role in a series that stars Miles Teller as Ruddy, Matthew Goode as Paramount head Robert Evans and Juno Temple as Ruddy’s assistant.
According to the series’ showrunner and director, Gallo, well, killed in the role.
“I think the Mario Puzo character ... had not really been exposed to Hollywood in some kind of way, so we kind of see the story, as well as through Al Ruddy's eyes, through Mario Puzo's eyes,” explained Nikki Toscano, the executive producer and showrunner of the series. “And I think what Patrick Gallo brought to the character was the – in a lot of ways, the heart and the excitement of what it was like to have his book be adapted ... and to be part of this Hollywood machine.”
“Patrick Gallo has an incredible energy and heart that he brought, as Nikki said, to the role,” added director Dexter Fletcher. “And I think that we understood that Mario Puzo was someone who wrote from a very personal place and brought this kind of energy and family feel to that book. He's so immersive in that. And Patrick brought all of that enthusiasm and heart and warmth to it, so we could create around that heart and warmth this story that was detailed through a very sort of family perspective.
“And he's such a kind of warm and a kind of – kindly person … And you feel embraced by him every day. And I think that was what was really important, because it was really important that we create a real family feel, a real ensemble. And he was a real part, a huge part of that, as all the actors were. But it was like making a great recipe, you know, and he was a really important ingredient that helped tie it all together, as everybody does. But just his warmth and excitement for the project that was really out there, was really on the front foot, was really undeniable. And that was so important for what we did.”
Gallo has been in a number of episodic television shows including HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire” and may be best known for playing Detroit gangster Anthony (Tony Jack) Giacalone in Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman.”
The only line I’ve written about Gallo was in a Sept. 24, 2002, column. “Lafayette High School grad Patrick Gallo, who has already appeared on ‘Grounded for Life’ and ‘Charmed’ this season, is scheduled to appear on the Oct. 10 ‘ER’ episode.”
In 2006, News reporter Mary Kunz Goldman noted Gallo “was born in 1973 and raised in Buffalo, went to Lafayette High School and moved to New York City at 19. He played Randy the Dress Salesman in the 2003 gross-out comedy ‘American Wedding’ and has had roles in TV shows including 'NYPD Blue' and 'ER.'"
The most information about him came from a 2019 article in The News by Christopher Schobert. Schobert wrote that Gallo has “regularly worked as a writer and director. Through it all, Buffalo has remained a big part of his life.”
"I was carved from this great city," he told Schobert.
Schobert added: “Gallo grew up on Buffalo's West Side in a ‘supportive, loving and extremely colorful family.’ He met his wife, Laura, in kindergarten, and still has many other friends from those childhood days. Buffalo remains such a big part of Gallo, that he said it's important that his son, raised in New York City, knows Buffalo's lifestyle and values.
"We’re fortunate that we get to spend a lot of time here with him, especially in the summer," Gallo told Schobert. “Man, this city in the summer, something to behold. Consequently, my son is the biggest Buffalo fan I know."
Gallo also told Schobert he is a producer on “Ghost Adventures,” a Travel Channel program.
Gallo’s adventure on “The Offer” is bound to raise his acting profile in his native Buffalo and beyond. It could end up being a role of a lifetime.
