Al Pacino and Robert De Niro starred in Michael Mann’s 1995 movie, ‘Heat’. Speaking at United Palace Theatre in Manhattan’s Washington Heights, Pacino mused on who could play Lt Hanna’s role in a potential sequel. 

“Timothée Chalamet”, the 82-year-old said on Friday, as per Variety, adding, “I mean, he’s a wonderful actor. Great looks.”

‘Heat’ saw Hanna, the obsessive detective, hot on the trail of De Niro’s Neil McCauley, the master criminal. The film is marked by many memorable moments, including a conversation between the two at a diner, where McCauley explains his life’s philosophy which always offers him a quick exit. 

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Mann, the writer-director, has now come up with a continuation of the crime epic, which releases on August 9. ‘Heat 2’, the novel, will trace McCauley and Hanna’s lives after the events of the film. 

The discussion about ‘Heat’ took place at the Tribeca Film Festival, which commemorated the 25th anniversary of the movie, organizing a Q&A panel with De Niro, Pacino, and longtime producer Art Linson. 

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During the course of the interview, it became clear that a lot of gravitas shown by the two masters of the craft came from pure instinct. Speaking about the diner scenes, De Niro said “Al and I didn’t rehearse the scene”, adding, “We just thought it was better just to do it.” 

The scene marks the first instance in cinematic history that the two actors share screen space, the next coming in the 2008 film ‘Righteous Kill’, which of course, was nowhere as memorable. The conversation in Mann’s film has been praised for its subtle tension and natural pacing. 

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Pacino credits this to De Niro’s listening skills, saying, “I’ve often said to people who have asked me about working with him, ‘You can do anything with Bob.’ No matter what you do, he’s going to hear it, react to it and connect to it”, and added, “That’s a real luxury to be with someone like that. Because no matter what you do, he picks up on it. He’s always there, at the ready.”