Al Pacino Confesses He Rejected Major Role in 'Star Wars', Thinks Star Actor Should Be Thanking Him
Al Pacino hinted in a Wednesday interview that the reason Harrison Ford got the role of Han Solo in “Star Wars” was that he first turned down the role.
In his hour-long interview with David Rubenstein at 92NY, Pacino was asked if he had ever regretted rejecting a role in a film, to which Pacino replied: “I turned down Star Wars.”
“So I was there and all of a sudden they gave me a script that was called ‘Star Wars,’” he recalled with Rubenstein, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
“I said, ‘I got the script, they offered me so much money, but I don’t understand it,'” Pacino added, noting that’s why he rejected the part.
The movie series is one of the highest-grossing movie franchises ever, generating over $10 billion in worldwide box office sales since its release, according to the Chicago Tribune.
But Pacino remained positive and joked: “I gave Harrison Ford a career, which he has never thanked me for!”
After having appeared in George Lucas’ 1973 drama “American Graffiti,” Ford was presented with the role of Han Solo in 1977’s “Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.”
The movie was Ford’s big break and led to him appearing in some of his most successful films, such as the “Indiana Jones” franchise.
Pacino, meanwhile, is best known for starring in “The Godfather.”
The Godfather (1972), Al Pacino 📽️ https://t.co/v7ZhzatzaY pic.twitter.com/CwST6WQ6ya
— Crash☘️ (@Crash_cfu) April 17, 2023
That film centers on the fictional story of the Italian-American family of mob boss Don Vito Corleone, with Pacino playing the role of the Don’s son, Michael.
In the movie, Michael reluctantly joins the mafia and is inevitably pulled into the family’s violent business, all while trying to protect his relationship with his wife, Kay, who is played by Diane Keaton.
The film has been praised as one of the greats, earning 11 Oscar nominations and winning three, according to Fox News.
Marlon Brando was awarded Best Actor Oscar. Pacino was nominated for Best Supporting Actor but did not win, Fox reported.
Asked if this bothered him, since Pacino had more lines in the film, Pacino replied: “How does a story like that get out? I wasn’t upset — are you kidding me?”
The behind-the-scenes production of The Godfather was detailed in the Paramount+ series “The Offer,” which was released almost exactly a year ago.
Pacino said he watched the biography drama series and noted that “about half of it was true,” which he described as “a shock,” according to the Hollywood Reporter.
First trailer for ‘The Godfather’ docu-drama #TheOffer starring Miles Teller.
Premiering April 28th on Paramount+. Thoughts?
— Lights, Camera, Barstool (@LightsCameraPod) March 23, 2022
Despite “The Godfather’s” many awards, Pacino said he and Keaton were both concerned that it would be a fail after the first day of filming.
“Diane Keaton and I got drunk and thought, ‘This is it, our careers are over. This is a mess,’” he recalled.
He was also asked if he thought “The Godfather Part II” was better than the first, to which Pacino replied: “No, I don’t. I really think it’s more — what would you call it — artistic or something, I don’t know.”
“I don’t mean to play it down and be overly modest because I star in it with Bob de Niro, but at the same time, it’s a different film,” he said, adding that “‘The Godfather’ is more entertaining.”
“’Godfather I,’ I saw it recently, it’s always got two or three things going on in a scene. You’re always in the story, you’re going. You don’t know what’s going to happen next, it’s storytelling, it’s really storytelling at its best,” Pacino’s said, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
He continued, describing “Godfather II” as “somber,” but said he still considers it a “great movie.”
Pacino went on to discuss the possibility of retirement and noted that he is currently working on a memoir.
According to Fox, Pacino currently has four upcoming projects planned in the next year after having finished up his previous role in the Amazon Prime series “Hunters.”
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