Filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, arguably most well-known for the Godfatherfranchise, was recently honored with the AFI Life Achievement Award from the American Film Institute. On hand to pay tribute to the Oscar-winning director were two icons in their own right, Robert De Niro and The Godfather star Al Pacino. Per Deadline, the pair, in their words about Coppola, reminisced about working with the director on his mobster film franchise.

“Francis, thank you for not casting me in The Godfather,”De Niro said at the awards ceremony held April 26 at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles. “It was the best job I ever, never got,” he joked. “And it meant I was available for The Godfather Part II. Francis, you changed my career, you changed my life. We’re all here tonight because of you. We love you,” De Niro concluded.

(Watch) Al Pacino and Robert De Niro muse on Francis...