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Al Pacino stars as disgraced Penn State coach in HBO's 'Paterno'

Penn State's Joe Paterno was one of the greatest coaches in college football history, racking up a record 409 wins, two national championships and countless awards in a career that spanned 1966 to 2011. Tragically, many will remember him for the scandal that brought it all to an end.

In HBO Films' “Paterno,” premiering Saturday, April 7, Oscar winner Al Pacino stars as the revered head coach, who found his life and career suddenly turned upside down when, in November 2011, his former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was arrested on 52 counts of child sexual abuse, some of which had occurred on the Penn State campus. At least one incident had been reported to Paterno. The university dismissed him a week later and he died of lung cancer at age 85 two months after.

Also starring in this biographical drama from Barry Levinson are Riley Keough as Sara Ganim, the young reporter who broke the scandal; Kathy Baker as Sue Paterno, Joe's wife; Greg Grunberg and Larry Mitchell as sons Scott and Jay; and Annie Parisse as daughter Mary Kay.

“It is truly a tragedy and a tragedy in all things,” Levinson told a recent gathering of journalists in Pasadena, Calif., “in terms of what happened with the victims, in terms of what happened with Paterno, whether you think he did or he didn't (know about the abuse), it is ultimately a tragedy. It is a tragedy of enormous size, of which Sara (Ganim, the young reporter) was basically the first to start to write about it, and to put it out there.

“And it took a while before it actually caught traction,” he continues. “That aspect of it is rather fascinating, that something like this was taking place. A young reporter, one year out of Penn State, is suddenly writing about this situation, and it took quite a while for the traction to take over. So we're dealing with Sara's story as she's following it, and we're dealing with Paterno.”

As for Pacino, he tried to approach Paterno and the story without any preconceived notions or judgment.

“I really go by the script,” he explains. “That's my orientation as a stage actor. That's always what I go to. The script and what's presented to me in the script, and whatever comes is usually from that. Let's just say, I don't have an opinion about it before I go in. I like to keep that canvas blank, if I can. I try not to be influenced by that.”

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“Paterno”

Premieres at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 7, on HBO

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