He fears that Mary could suffer the same fate as his first wife, Apollonia, who was killed by a car bomb intended for him 30 years earlier.

Sofia Coppola, the daughter of director Francis Ford Coppola, was cast in the role of Mary Corleone after several choices dropped out: Winona Ryder discontinued her involvement with the film due to nervous exhaustion,[2][3][4][5] Julia Roberts due to scheduling conflicts,[2] and Madonna was deemed too old for the part by some.

[10] It has also been suggested that Sofia's role in the film may have contributed to its box office performance, which started strongly and then went into decline.

[9] After she was critically panned for her performance in The Godfather Part III, for which she won Worst Supporting Actress and Worst New Star at the 1990 Golden Raspberry Awards, Coppola ended her acting career, although she appeared in the independent film Inside Monkey Zetterland (1992), as well as in the backgrounds of films by her friends and family: for example, she appeared as Saché, one of Queen Padmé Amidala's five handmaidens in George Lucas' Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999).

[4] Coppola has since been quoted as saying that she was not hurt by the criticism from her role in The Godfather Part III, because she never especially wanted an acting career.