?The five-time Oscar winner took a surprise hit at Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Jack Nicholson, saying he has become disappointed with them as they have grown older and richer. Coppola, 68, who directed Pacino in The Godfather and Godfather II, and De Niro in Godfather II, and who was not credited for directing Nicholson in the horror film The Terror, told GQ magazine he does not believe they have ambition any longer. “I met both Pacino and De Niro when they were really on the come,” he said. “They were young and insecure.
“Now Pacino is very rich, maybe because he never spends any money; he just puts it in his mattress.”? Referring to the influence of his own studio, American Zoetrope, he went on: “De Niro was deeply inspired by Zoetrope and created an empire and is wealthy and powerful.? “Nicholson was when I met him and worked wit him he was always kind of a joker.”He’s got a little bit of a mean streak. He’s intelligent, always wired in with the big boys and the big bosses of the studios.? “I don’t know what any of them want any more. I don’t know that they want the same things.”? Pacino always wanted to do theatre. He will say, ‘Oh, I was raised next to a furnace in New York and I’m never going to go to LA,’ but they all live on the fat of the land.”
None of the actors would comment about Coppola’s remarks.? Source