What did the coach know? Al Pacino wrestles with Joe Paterno

Though Paterno has since died – of complications arising from lung cancer, aged 85, in 2012 – the issue itself is still a sensitive one for those whose lives were destroyed by the the abuses, and the subsequent scandal, and for Pennsylvania sports fans who are still divided on the issue.

The key, Pacino says, is not to simply make a facsimile of the real individual, but rather to try and construct something more abstract which evokes a sense of Paterno's presence and emotions.

"We don't make a replica but we try to see if we can come close to a sense of the character," he says. "We discuss it and go over it sometimes for many weeks, until we come up with something that hopefully conveys something."

There is, he adds, a measure of insulation which protects an actor tackling a real life subject, despite the divided opinion over his guilt or complicity. "They're the stepping stone, they're the thing that gets you there," he says. "And there's a certain credibility, because these things really happened, and it ... fortifies you, in a way."

It also works best when the real-life individual is in the actor's field of vision, Pacino notes. "When I did Serpico, I had the real friend of Serpico ... interplaying with him and getting stories, fresh, uninhibited, from his own experience.

"When I played Roy Cohn [in Mike Nichols' Angels in America in 2003] Tony Kushner wrote a great character, not necessarily a replica of the real Roy Cohn but his imaginative interpretation of that character," he says. "And now with Paterno, there is this creation."

In preparation for the role, Pacino says he consumed a measure of media information about Paterno, but elected not to visit Happy Valley, where opinion on the case is still divided and there is still a measure of conflicted emotion about its outcome.

"I tried to take any prior knowledge I've had of him and, you know, I get the general sketch, like everybody else does, but I really go by the script," Pacino says. "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."

Going in, Pacino adds, he reserves judgment. "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."

One of the central issues of the case is what Paterno knew, when he knew it and whether he acted to cover it up or to save himself. It is an issue still argued to this day.

In 2012, an investigation done by former FBI director Louis Freeh concluded Paterno had concealed information relating to Sandusky's sexual abuse of young boys, and suggested Paterno might have persuaded university officials not to report Sandusky.

Pacino says he did have to make decisions on what Paterno saw or knew, but that he made those decisions almost unconsciously.

"As you continue to work on something, [as] you absorb the role, and it starts to speak to you and tell you ... [and] I do believe I've made, not a concrete decision, but I felt as though I understood what was going on.

"I found out as I went along, playing the character, how I thought he might have felt about it and how he might have dealt with it and I try to be careful because there are people out there who have a different opinion about it, the people who are closer to him," he adds.

That uncertainty underlines Paterno, says director Barry Levinson.

"I think we show all of the aspects of it, and I think that that's what makes it compelling because, on one hand, you say, well, look, he knew about that, and on another, you say, well, maybe he didn't know about that," Levinson says.

"It's ultimately a human tragedy and that's what makes it fascinating," Levinson says. "And then Al playing that character, because we are not playing somebody as heroes and villains, we are talking about human behaviour, how do we function, how do we respond to certain things and try to make sense out of it?

"I think it's a nuanced piece, and I think it's a human piece," Levinson says.

WHAT Paterno

WHEN Showcase, Sunday (April 8), 8.30pm