Al Pacino recalls ‘unbelievable’ casting in 1972’s 'The Godfather'

Al Pacino’s casting in director Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 masterpiece, The Godfather was almost “unbelievable” for the Hollywood legend.

The star, taking to his new memoir Sonny Boy, detailed on what he felt being casted in one of his most famous roles of Michael Corleone in Coppola’s classic crime hit, based on the Mario Puzo novel of the same title.

Pacino wasn’t the name the studio considered first to cast in the role of Michael, the son of mob boss Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando), but Coppola had other plans.

In his memoir, Pacino recalled being casted in the movie that became an Oscar-winning classic, pulled two sequels and is still considered a benchmark for great movies.

“My relationship with the director who would change my life began oddly. Francis Ford Coppola had seen me on Broadway, and wanted to meet with me about a role. So I flew to San Francisco and for the next five days and nights, he took me to dinner and we talked about his film project over bottles of wine,” the star wrote in his memoir, as per text shared by People.

“I thought Francis had been touched by genius. He was a leader, a doer, and a risk-taker.”

He further penned, “But I was an unknown, and the movie that Francis wanted to do with me got turned down everywhere. And I didn’t think I’d ever hear from him again. Months went by, and then one day, I got a phone call. On the other end of the line was Francis Coppola.”

“First he told me he was going to be directing The Godfather,” Pacino added. “I thought he might be fantasising. I had read Mario Puzo’s novel, which had become a big hit; it was a huge deal for anyone to be involved with it. Then Francis said he wanted me to play Michael Corleone.”

“I started doubting whether he was on the phone at all. Maybe I was the one going through a nervous breakdown. For a director to offer you a role, over the phone, not through an agent, and this role of all roles — that was a hundred-million-to-one shot,” the 84-year-old seemed to reminisce.

“I didn’t even think of it as a shot, because I didn’t believe it. Who was I, to have this fall into my lap?”

He continued, “When I finally hung up the phone with Francis, I was kind of in a daze. Paramount didn’t want me to play Michael Corleone. They wanted Jack Nicholson. They wanted Robert Redford. They wanted Warren Beatty or Ryan O’Neal. In the book, Puzo had Michael calling himself ‘the sissy of the Corleone family.’”

“He was supposed to be small, dark-haired, handsome in a delicate way, no visible threat to anybody. That didn’t sound like the guys that the studio wanted. But that didn’t mean it had to be me.”

Pacino further described that at the time, “Paramount had already rejected Jimmy Caan and Bob Duvall. They rejected Brando, for Christ’s sake.”

“It was quite clear that they didn’t want me either. But here’s the secret: Francis wanted me and I knew that. And there’s nothing like when a director wants you.”

The multiple awards winner also shared who he went to first to share the news.

He recalled, “When I knew I had the role, I called my grandmother to tell her. ‘You know I’m going to be in The Godfather? I’m going to play the part of Michael Corleone.’ She said, ‘Oh, Sonny, listen! Granddad was born in Corleone. That’s where he’s from.’”

Pacino didn’t know where his “grandfather was born, only that he came from Sicily”. Learning about his Corleone origins, he “thought” of his grandfather who could “help” him in preparing for the role.