Mary Corleone

"I'll always love you."
"Love somebody else"

―Mary Corleone and Vincent Mancini^[src]

Mary Corleone was the second child of Michael Corleone and Kay Adams.

Biography

Early Life

Mary lived a fairly normal childhood compared to that of her brother Anthony Corleone. Spending most of her early childhood in Nevada, Mary and Anthony grew up during a brutal period in their parents' relationship. As an adult, she would recall the night of Anthony's first communion in which Johnny Ola's men shot at the compound, after which Al Neri took Mary and her brother to safety. Following the congressional investigation into the Corleone family, Kay had planned to take Mary and Anthony away from Mike, an act that he refused to let transpire. After overhearing this fight between their parents, Anthony began to dislike his mother, while Mary still very much loved Kay and would spend time with her during the few trips she made back to the Nevada compound. At the age of eight, she attended a wedding at which she met her cousin Vincent Mancini who was fifteen at the time.

Adulthood

Vincent and Mary — Mary with her cousin Vincent Mancini.

Following Michael's move to a legitimate business and the establishment of the Vito Corleone Foundation, Mary was established as the honorary chairman of the foundation, however, this was only a front imposed so that Michael could gain control of Immobiliare, which Mary was unaware of, though her brother Anthony was not. Although close to her father, Mary is sheltered from the violent world of the Corleone crime family. In 1979, however, she falls in love with Vincent Mancini, who is also Michael's hotheaded protegé and heir to the business. Michael disapproves of the romance, believing her marriage to his successor would put Mary in danger. After being appointed Godfather in 1980, Vincent ends the relationship to protect her and become Don of the family.

Death

Mary killed — Mary Corleone on the steps on the Teatro Massimo.

Mary watched her brother Anthony perform the lead role in Cavalleria rusticana in Sicily, after which, she pleaded with her father to allow her to see Vincent. Shortly after this, she was accidentally killed with a fatal bullet wound to her chest, by assassin Mosca of Montelepre, who had been trying to kill Michael, but succeeded only in wounding his shoulder. Mary's death left Michael a broken man, and later, he gets retired to Don Tommasino's house.

Behind the scenes

Mary is portrayed by Sofia Coppola, Francis Ford Coppola's daughter. Winona Ryder was originally cast as Mary, but pulled out due to exhaustion. Sofia's lack of acting experience is widely seen as one of the fatal flaws of the movie which was lauded as the worst of the series.