Al Pacino and director Barry Levinson appeared on the latest episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast Monday morning to discuss their upcoming film, Paterno, the angle the biopic will take, and how it will be received by Penn State fans. Paterno is slated to premiere at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 7.

Although he doesn’t believe the film has a specific agenda, Levinson said he doesn’t think the film will be well-received in Happy Valley. He seemed to equate the anticipated reaction to the one students had, rioting in Beaver Canyon after Joe Paterno was fired in November 2011.

“There are people that have certain opinions and you realize that sometimes, you’re never going to change some people’s opinions,” Levinson said. “You can say whatever you want and there will always be people who say ‘Yeah, but…’

“There was a riot, turning over trucks and settings things on fire when the students were angry that JoePa was fired. That was an emotional reaction. It wasn’t an intellectual one or thought through. How will they respond to [the film] if their emotions are going to play as opposed to some of the other ways to look at it in the cool light of day?”

Despite the film being fictional, Levinson doesn’t think any additional information could threaten its credibility. He also said its fictional focus on intimate, personal interactions within the Paterno family presents a unique perspective that’ll re-create the two-week fallout and encourage audiences to reevaluate their opinions in a way a documentary couldn’t.

“A documentary is trying to tell the sequence of events,” Levinson said. “This is telling the human drama that’s inside it, seeing Paterno thinking about the events and talking with his family. That’s where a film lives and breathes.”

The contrast between Paterno’s well-known and long-standing values with his inaction seem to be a paramount focus of the film.

“We don’t know much about that guy (Larry Nassar) in terms of his principles, but Joe Paterno was known as this great football coach who believed in education, the humanities, and the integrity of it all,” Levinson said. “That was the signature of this man, this great humanitarian and coach.”

The interview also focused on how Paterno will be portrayed.

Simmons observed that Pacino “seemed old and beaten down” in the film and used “cliche old guy quotes to deny culpability” such as saying he can’t even remember what he for breakfast.

Pacino, known to be a method actor, had to overcome the challenges of not being able to meet Paterno in order to study his character. He said he relied on the many interviews of him to capture his mannerisms and acted according to the script’s narrative.

“What you’re doing is kind of revisionist and trying to be true to the text and the story that it’s telling and what you think Paterno was feeling — I never knew him,” he said. “His state, his flaming out about the situation, and what he was going through — the kind of denial, the depression, and the various emotions he goes through to cope with what he first feels is an unjust accusation.”

Perhaps most notably, Pacino said that he wore a fake nose for the film to accurately recreate Paterno’s memorable, Coke-bottle glasses-adorned face.

“I wanted to have a scene where Joe Paterno gets really angry and rips his nose off,” Pacino said.

The interview focuses on Paterno from 17:50-35:36.