Paramount didnt want me to play Michael Corleone, he wrote in an excerpt shared byThe Guardian.
They wanted Jack Nicholson.
They wanted Robert Redford.
Al Pacino in ‘The Godfather’Everett
They wanted Warren Beatty or Ryan ONeal.
In the book, Puzo had Michael calling himself the sissy of the Corleone family.
That didnt sound like the guys that the studio wanted.
Al Pacino inThe Godfather Part II(1974).
But that didnt mean it had to be me.
I did not care that it was The Godfather.
I was a bit afraid of flying and I didnt want to go to California.
But my manager, Marty Bregman, said to me, Youre getting on that fucking plane.
But heres the secret: Francis wanted me.
He wanted me and I knew that, wrote Pacino.
And theres nothing like when a director wants you.
He also gave me a gift in the form ofDiane Keaton.
She was easy to talk to and funny, and she thought I was funny too.
I felt like I had a friend and an ally right away.
… At this point we had been shootingThe Godfatherfor about a week and a half.
And Francis said, Well, youre not cutting it.
I felt that one in the pit of my stomach.
Its when it finally hit me that my job was on the line, he wrote.
Fortunately for Pacino, the scene showed off exactly why Coppola cast him.
Because of that scene I just performed, they kept me in the film.
So I didnt get fired fromThe Godfather.
And I was certain that Francis felt the same way.
