Based on the extraordinary experiences of Academy Award-winning producer Albert S. Ruddy while making The Godfather, the Paramount+ original series The Offer shows the wild journey the New York City gangster film that had the approval of the actual mob remarkably took on its way to becoming one of the great cinematic masterpieces. In order to make the movie happen, Ruddy (Miles Teller) needed to get Paramount Pictures’ head of production Robert Evans (Matthew Goode), mob boss Joe Colombo (Giovanni Ribisi), the money guys (Burn Gorman, Colin Hanks), author Mario Puzo (Patrick Gallo) and director Francis Ford Coppola (Dan Fogler) all on the same page long enough to finish the production and assemble what they all knew it had the potential to be.

During this 1-on-1 interview with Collider, executive producer Dexter Fletcher, who also directed the first two episodes of the series, talked about what engages his imagination when it comes to storytelling, not having known anything about Al Ruddy prior to this project, his surprise that The Godfather ever actually got made with all of its behind-the-scenes drama, the biggest challenges with this series, finding the right cast, and what he enjoys about working with actors. He also talked about his upcoming film Ghosted, with Chris Evans and Ana de Armas, as well as whether he thinks Sherlock Holmes 3 will actually ever get made.

Collider: You’ve done your fair share of biopics. What is it about real-life stories and real-life people that makes you want to tell the stories you’ve told? Is it something you’ve even really stopped to think about?

DEXTER FLETCHER: Not really. The things that have happened across my desk, it’s about what has engaged my imagination or what I feel connected to. This is such an incredible period in history with incredible characters that I was immediately attracted to that, with the film as the backdrop to these amazing characters. Obviously, true stories, or the stories about real people, are intriguing. And I do understand that there’s creative license you have to take, in order to tell the story well. You have to cut out all the more mundane parts of it and really just focus on the stuff that was pivotal and the moments where something seismic happens. That means you can tell stories with all the good juicy bits and not have to worry about when they walked from their house to the shop to buy some milk because it’s not relevant. You can play with the timelines and who said what, when, and I do enjoy that. There’s always a really good reference point, as well. You can find lots of great pictures of Al Ruddy, Robert Evans, Ali McGraw, Al Pacino and Brando, at this time in their lives, and that’s very exciting. It’s a very good thing to dive into.

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One of the things that I found so interesting with this is that you have the characters that everybody knows, and I can’t imagine how daunting it must have been for the actors to take those characters on, but your main character, Al Ruddy, is one that people know less about. Did you know much about him, before doing this? Did you find a lot about him that was surprising to you?

FLETCHER: I didn’t know about Al Ruddy, sitting here, literally in my ignorance. I think that was part of what was so interesting about it. Coming at it from the audience perspective, it’s easier to assume that they’ve heard Francis Ford Coppola, but not necessarily the man who has the Academy Award on his shelf at home, for possibly one of the greatest movies of all time, and that has one name on in it, and its his. I rediscovered what I thought I knew, through this guy who I didn’t really know and hadn’t really heard of. That was a great way in, to lift the lid that Michael Tolkin and Nikki Toscano had found. And he’s still around. He’s one of the great old mavericks from a generation that we owe our careers to, in a way. That’s the thing about The Offer. It’s really a love letter and a belated thank you to that generation of filmmakers that changed the landscape. The seventies was seismic, in terms of how films were approached, and certainly studio films. I loved that element of it, just as a filmmaker and someone who’s really into that period of film.

After everything that you learned in order to tell this story, are you surprised that not only did The Godfather get made at all, but that it somehow became one of the greatest films of all time? Are you surprised it ever actually got finished?

FLETCHER: Yeah, I’m surprised The Godfather ever got made and got out there, but I think that’s the wonderful thing about the show. It shows their determination and how when someone plays outside of the rules because they don’t really know the rules, amazing things can happen. The greatness of that film is a testament to Francis and Puzo, and that incredible cast of actors that Coppola assembled and the filmmaker that he is. What makes the story of the behind-the-scenes compelling is that it is such a great movie. We take these great movies for granted, but the truth is, every movie goes through its trials and tribulations. To think that such a great movie was so close, so many times, to not being made is almost a travesty and extremely alarming. If you make a film that’s bad and that’s universally accepted as bad, it wouldn’t be any great loss. But The Godfather not being made, it would be hard to imagine a world where The Godfather doesn’t exist.

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Image via Paramount+

What felt like the biggest challenge, at the start of this project? You have this huge group of characters and there are so many things going on. What was the biggest challenge to even get this series going?

FLETCHER: You’re right, it has such a huge cast. Certainly, in those initial episodes, you’re introducing everyone as fully as you can and giving them enough character and screen time, so that the audience sticks with them, and understands and knows who they are. That’s certainly a challenge in storytelling terms, which was new to me because I come from film. I generally have a bit more time to spend with my characters and there’s fewer of them. This was a lot of characters in quick succession, that I had to really have make an impact and be memorable. That was a great challenge. I also didn’t want to just emulate the film, The Godfather. It’s so seminal and so cinematic, which is what I wanted to bring to The Offer. I had to resist the urge to just try to replicate The Godfather and what that team did. We had to set our own story and say, “This isn’t the film. This is the story of the people behind that film.” We had to create our own language and our own world.

When I spoke to Matthew Goode, he had told me that he initially received the script to look at a role that was not Robert Evans, and then he got the call from you and Nikki Toscano, asking him to play Robert Evans. What was the casting process like for this? How did you ultimately match up the right actor with the right person for them to portray?

FLETCHER: Sometimes, it was really obvious and very straightforward. When you look at Anthony Ippolito, for example, he was our first choice. It was the same with Dan Fogler. That was a very easy decision. Not only was there physical similarity, and we didn’t really concentrate on physical similarities, but we really looked at the essence of people. Frank Sinatra was harder to find. When it came to Matthew, we knew that he’s a super strong actor, but we had a huge, massive movie star who was telling us that he wanted to play that role. As responsible makers of TV and film, when you’ve got a big star saying, “I’m gonna come in and bring all that lovely attention to your show, very easily,” you take it very seriously. But when it didn’t work out because of scheduling and other issues, we very quickly pivoted. We said, “Okay, we can’t get the big movie star, so let’s go to the guy we really believe is gonna do an incredible performance, and put our faith in that.” That’s why Matthew is there. We were given the luxury by the studio, by Paramount, who said, “Okay, you can’t get this big name movie star, so who do you really what? Who’s gonna really be amazing?” And that was a really quick and easy decision. We, straight away, went to Matthew and he proved us absolutely right. He’s compelling and brilliant, like everyone in it is. Those were big shoes to fill, and he really attacked it with gusto.

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Image via Paramount+

I’ve spoken to several of the actors in this cast, and the one thing they all said to me, along with the fact that they were nervous about taking on these roles, is that you’re very persuasive and that you knew how to build their confidence. They all seemed to feel like that you really created a safe space for them to play a character that they thought was scary to take on. Is that something that you’re aware that you do for actors? Is that just part of your directing approach?

FLETCHER: I want to do that. I don’t know if I always believe that I do, but if they say that, that’s fantastic. That’s very much my desire. From my own acting experience, I know that the actors lead from the front. Because acting is such a mercurial craft, every actor does it differently and has a different approach and set of values. I’m endlessly fascinated by that and try to get an understanding of that. I believe that every actor has the ability to be brilliant. That’s why I’ve cast them, and I don’t want anything dissuade me from that, and certainly not the actor that I’ve cast. Actors will try to persuade you that you’ve made a mistake in casting them because of their own insecurity, which is completely understandable. I’ve done that myself. But I will never let myself be dissuaded. I let them know that they can doubt themselves as much as they want, but I will never do that. I absolutely stay true to that. I think that goes a long way to making the actor work. They go, “He’s just relentless. He won’t stop telling me I can do this.” It’s a war of attrition. They just give up. They go, “Okay, I’ll agree with him. He’s right. I’m great.” I think that’s important.

You also have Ghosted, which again seems like a great cast. What appealed to you about that script and made you wanna do that project?

FLETCHER: That cast, really. There’s an incredible cast there, and to work with those actors I admire, I thought would be great fun and exciting. It felt like it was on the verge of something really interesting, and I wanted to see whether I could work with them to create that safe space that I try to create for every actor that I work with. Actors are actors, whether they’re top of the ladder or on the first rung. That, to me, is always exciting. I get just as much of a thrill from that. And there’s a great adventure in there. To explore that with Chris [Evans] and Ana [de Armas], and all of the others, like Adrien Brody, Tim Blake Nelson, Tate Donovan, Amy Sedaris, and Mike Moh. The list is a good one. With some things, you just go, “This will be too much fun. This is too good to be true.” So, you jump in. Life affords you opportunities, and it’s good to take them.

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Image via Paramount+

Is there anything that you can say to tease what that film is?

FLETCHER: You may see them kiss. You may see them run away from people. You may see them chase people. What else can I say? They’re incredibly dynamic and exciting together, in every situation. They go on a real roller coaster of a ride, and they’re such a joy to watch together. That may be as much as I can say.

Do you think Sherlock Holmes 3 will ever get made? What has been so difficult to get that going?

FLETCHER: The pandemic derailed it. I do think it will get made. I think it has to be made. I don’t know what the timeline of that is, unfortunately, but I believe it should be. It’s fantastic. I think it’s about all the right people being at the right place, at the right time. I think it’s that. It’s one of those cruel twists of fate, where the pandemic hit and that scattered people around the world to the wind. But I know that the appetite is huge for it, and I’m sure there are other people acutely aware of that as well. But I believe it should be because it’s brilliant. I very much hope so.

The Offer is available to stream at Paramount+.