Caan played the role of Sonny Corleone in the famous film, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Al Pacino, who took on the role of brother Michael Corleone, finds it “hard to believe” that Caan is gone. “Jimmy was my fictional brother and a lifelong friend. A great actor, a brilliant director and my dear friend. I will miss him.” Robert De Niro, who worked with Caan in the second Godfathermovie, said he was “very sad” at the news of his passing.
Francis Ford Coppola, director of the Godfathertrilogy, already worked with Caan for the film The Rain People (1969), a few years before The Godfather came out. “His films and the many great roles he played will never be forgotten,” Coppola said in a statement. “He will always be my old friend from Sunnyside, my colleague and one of the funniest people I’ve ever known.”
Other Hollywood stars also react to Caan’s death. Actor Adam Sandler writes on Twitter that he loved Caan very much. “I always wanted to be like him. I’m so glad I got to know him,” Sandler wrote. Barbra Streisand calls it sad that the actor has passed away. “He was so talented,” she writes.