Al Pacino revealed he nearly got booted from the very role that ended up defining his career.
The legendary actor made the bombshell revelation in his memoir, “Sonny Boy,” released Oct. 8, according to Page Six. He said the studio wanted to boot him from the iconic role of Michael Corleone, the son of a mob boss, and never wanted him to play the character from the start. Pacino claimed the powers-that-be had their eyes set on Ryan O’Neal, Robert Redford or Warren Beatty.
Al Pacino, US actor, sitting in an armchair in a publicity still issued for the film, ‘The Godfather Part II’, 1974. The mafia drama, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, starred Pacino as ‘Don Michael Corleone’. (Photo by Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)
Fans can thank director Francis Ford Coppola for saving Pacino by being in his corner.
Pacino said in the memoir that he incurred an issue with the studio approximately a week and a half into filming, according to Page Six. He added that Paramount was displeased with his performance and Coppola took him to a restaurant to discuss the matter.
“You know how much you mean to me,” Coppola said to Pacino, “how much faith I had in you. Well, you’re not cutting it.”
Pacino recalled that he told Coppola he was underplaying his character deliberately.
“My idea was that this guy comes out of nowhere,” Pacino wrote in his book.
Al Pacino in a scene from the film ‘The Godfather: Part II’, 1974. (Photo by Paramount/Getty Images)
“That was the power of this characterization. That was the only way this could work: the emergence of this person, the discovery of his capacity and his potential,” he wrote, according to Page Six.
Coppola ultimately saved Pacino by expediting the filming of the famous restaurant shooting scene “to give the doubters back in Hollywood some incentive to believe in me and keep me in the picture,” Pacino said.
The famous actor didn’t expressly indicate whether Coppola moved up filming the scene specifically for him, but he made it clear the director was the reason he was able to stay on, according to Page Six.
“They knew I was going through a difficult time, feeling like I had the world on my shoulders, knowing that any day the axe could fall on me… Sterling and Al Lettieri helped keep up my morale; they set a one and were role models for me,” Pacino said.
“Because of that scene I just performed, they kept me in the film.” (RELATED: Al Pacino Reveals He Came Close To Death)
Pacino was nominated for an Oscar for his performance in the film, which has since become synonymous with his successful Hollywood career.
Most would agree it would be hard to picture anyone else in the role.
This article was originally published at dailycaller.com
