SN exclusive: Barry Levinson says 'Paterno' retells Penn State scandal 'as it's presented'

Bill Bender

SN exclusive: Barry Levinson says 'Paterno' retells Penn State scandal 'as it's presented' image

Academy Award-winning director Barry Levinson knew making a movie about Joe Paterno's last days as Penn State's football coach would have an emotional impact. 

The HBO Films original "Paterno" premieres Saturday at 8 p.m. ET, concentrating on the last two weeks of the coach's tenure. Al Pacino plays Paterno, and Riley Keough takes on the role of Sara Ganim, the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter who covered the events surrounding the Jerry Sandusky scandal. The former Penn State football staffer was arrested in 2011 and convicted of 45 counts of child sexual abuse in 2012.

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The movie covers a period that still evokes visceral emotions, showing what unfolded in Happy Valley after Paterno's FBS-record 409th victory against Illinois on Oct. 29, 2011. 

"Someone said to me once, 'Oh, you're going to do it, so what's the agenda?'" Levinson told Sporting News. "I thought, 'Well that's odd. I don't really have an agenda.' This is an interesting story to tell and to the best of our ability we tried to tell that story without shaping things one way or the other." 

Levinson conveys that time frame in State College primarily through Paterno and Ganim. The goal of the film, he said, is to tell the story in a "humanistic fashion." Levinson said his interest in the project stemmed from wanting to learn more about Paterno, who led Penn State football from 1966 to 2011. 

"You show a man at the top of the world, and within two weeks you're at the lowest point in your life," Levinson said. "That's the ultimate irony of it all. There he was at the high point, and literally it just crashes down. Paterno had that almost legendary reputation, and then all of a sudden the scandal broke. Why would I be interested? You can't quite figure it out at face value." 

Al-Pacino-Paterno-HBO-FTR.jpg

Al Pacino plays Penn State coach Joe Paterno in the upcoming HBO movie "Paterno." (Atsushi Nishijima/HBO) 

Pacino, convincing in his portrayal of Paterno, will draw the most attention in this picture, particularly in his interactions with family members and Penn State administrators. Kathy Baker (Sue Paterno), Larry Mitchell (Jay Paterno), Annie Parisse (Mary Kay Paterno) and Greg Grunberg (Scott Paterno) round out those interactions. 

"(Pacino) watched footage, he could listen to things, to how he spoke, etc.," Levinson said. "But at the end of the day you can't do a copy of somebody. You have to do a version of somebody that's the essence of Paterno. I think that's what Al is so great at. You have to create a man, a life and the emotions that go with it. He's truly brilliant." 

Keough's portrayal of Ganim during that two-week timeline — including her interactions with victims in the Sandusky case — only adds to an emotionally evocative story for both Penn State fans and those who watched the scandal from the outside. 

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"I thought if we could make it work that way I thought it would be an interesting way to handle the piece," Levinson said. "That two-week period was incredibly intense, and it had a massive effect on the university, certainly on Paterno and on his family." 

Levinson does that with a story that — much like the real scandal — will let the viewer make their own judgment on Paterno's role in the scandal before his death in 2012.

"My feeling is that the most humanistic fashion you can bring to it, then the better it will be," Levinson said. "That has the emotional weight, and that allows us to tell the Paterno story. This isn't a procedural drama. This is as presented.

"We can never, ever say exactly what went on because nobody seems to know exactly what went on," he said. "You can present it as best you can, and from that you can make your own choice."

Bill Bender

Bill Bender Photo

Bill Bender graduated from Ohio University in 2002 and started at The Sporting News as a fantasy football writer in 2007. He has covered the College Football Playoff, NBA Finals and World Series for SN. Bender enjoys story-telling, awesomely-bad 80s movies and coaching youth sports.