Lillo Brancato, who plays C, later did fall into a life of crime and spent five years in prison for a burglary that led to the death of a police officer.
Brancato revealed in an interview that it was during the film's production that he started doing drugs and, in a case of life imitating art, both Robert De Niro and Chazz Palminteri tried to persuade him not to. Palmintieri took Brancato's actions very personally note understandable since he hired the guy to play himself in a story about his father stressing the importance of not wasting your talent and cut off all contact with him.
Hilarious in Hindsight: Lorenzo expresses discomfort at the idea of C hypothetically dating a black woman; 4 years after this film's release, Robert De Niro married a black woman.
On the Opie & Anthony Show, Chazz Palminteri and comedian Rich Vos read a scene from the movie. And to this day, every once in a while on the show you'll hear the "Louie! Beans!" done in Rich's mushmouthed style.
"Put him in the fuckin' bathroom!"
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Many critics preferred Francis Capra (Calogero age 9) over Lillo Brancato (Calogero age 17) and wished the film focused more on the character's younger years.
The Musical
Award Snub: Despite generally positive reviews, in a packed season of new Broadway musicals, the show did not earn a single Tony Award nomination. Many were particularly upset about Nick Cordero not being nominated for playing Sonny.
Harsher in Hindsight: The refrain of "the saddest thing in life is wasted talent" became this in 2020 when Nick Cordero, the original Sonny on Broadway, died at the relatively young age of 41 due to complications from COVID-19.
Unintentionally Unsympathetic: It's hard to feel sorry for Jane's brother and his friends getting beat up by the Italians given that they were walking through their neighborhood and loudly calling them all "wops" and "greaseballs". In the film at least, they were just riding their bikes home and minding their own business.
