Nicolas Cage begged his uncle Francis Ford Coppola for a role in 'The Godfather Part III'. The 57-year-old star has revealed how he was desperate to land the part of Vincent Corleone, the illegitimate son of Sonny Corleone (James Caan), in the 1990 film but missed out on the role to Andy Garcia.
Regarding his early career in Hollywood, Nicolas Cage has revealed some pretty intriguing revelations. Cage reportedly wanted to take part in The Godfather III, the third installment of his famous uncle Francis Ford Coppola's renowned gangster film trilogy. However, he was turned down.
What relation is Nicolas Cage to Francis Ford Coppola?
Through his father, he is a nephew of both director Francis Ford Coppola and actress Talia Shire, and a cousin of directors Roman Coppola and Sofia Coppola, film producer Gian-Carlo Coppola, and actors Robert and Jason Schwartzman. Cage is the youngest of three sons.
The Godfather Part III received criticism, partially due to Sofia Coppola's wooden-like acting performance. Winona Ryder was originally cast as Mary Corleone but had to leave the film due to doctor-recommended reasons, which led Francis Ford Coppola to cast his daughter, Sofia Coppola.
The Coppola family has a long legacy of filmmaking — including legendary director Francis Ford Coppola, his sister Talia Shire, his three children Gian-Carlo, Roman and Sofia Coppola, granddaughter Gia Coppola and nephews Nicolas Cage and Jason Schwartzman.
These bullies were completely unaware that the new transfer student was a brutal fighter
What is Sofia Coppola to Nicolas Cage?
As Cage was filming in Toronto, so was his famed cousin, Sofia Coppola, who directed the new film, Priscilla. And get this -- Cage's uncle (and Sofia's father) Francis Ford Coppola also was filming Megalopolis in Atlanta. Quite the trifecta.
Winona Ryder was initially cast in the role of Mary but eventually left production due to other commitments and nervous exhaustion. The role was ultimately given to Coppola's daughter, Sofia which garnered much criticism and accusations of nepotism.
Dustin Hoffman and Jack Nicholson both turned down the role of Michael. There were many actors considered for role of Michael. Robert Redford…he was too WASPish, Martin Sheen who actually auditioned for the role.
Who was the first choice to play Michael in The Godfather?
However, since Pacino wasn't Coppola's first option for the role, things could've followed a different course. The part of Michael Corleone was first offered to Dustin Hoffman, who turned it down due to his involvement in Bob Fosse's Lenny.
She name-dropped Meryl Streep, Nicolas Cage, Sam Elliott, and Val Kilmer, who she dated in the '80s. After co-host Jessie Ware expressed her admiration for Cher inviting exes to the table, the 77-year-old replied, "I'm close with all of them.
De Niro had previously auditioned for the first installment, The Godfather (1972), but quit the project in favor of doing The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight. Coppola, having remembered him, gave De Niro a role in Part II instead.
Nicolas Cage's original name was Nicholas Kim Coppola. He is a nephew of motion-picture director Francis Ford Coppola. Cage, wanting to differentiate himself from his uncle, began using the last name Cage.
Worse, Francis Ford Coppola himself rejected Cage for some roles. These rejections stung Cage, but he was able to move forward with his career without using his famous uncle's films and name for his own benefit.
The primary reason why Jack Nicholson turned down the role of Michael Corleone in The Godfather was that the presently retired Nicholson, who identified himself as being Irish throughout his career, felt that the role of the Italian-American Michael should be played by an Italian actor.
Colombo family crime boss Joe Colombo (center) first tried to stop production on the "The Godftaher" — then turned over and helped it get made. Director Francis Ford Coppola accepted one of the film's three Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
Potential candidates for Michael included the era's most bankable stars, including Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Warren Beatty, Ryan O'Neal and Jack Nicholson. "Martin Sheen was considered," Seal says. "Frank Langella. Nobody wanted Al Pacino, except for Coppola.
Sofia as Mary was actually a last-minute decision. Originally Winona Rider was casted to do Mary, but days before filming started, she was hospitalized due to exhaustion, so Sofia had to step in at last minute.
Posting a portion of Al Pacino's audition tape for the role of Michael Corleone to his Instagram account, the director stated: “The interesting thing here, was a reason given to me against casting Pacino was not only was he too short, but also too 'scruffy'.”
What did Nicholas Cage have to do with The Godfather?
Nicolas Cage begged his uncle Francis Ford Coppola for a role in 'The Godfather Part III'. The 57-year-old star has revealed how he was desperate to land the part of Vincent Corleone, the illegitimate son of Sonny Corleone (James Caan), in the 1990 film but missed out on the role to Andy Garcia.
Al Pacino was offered $5 million to reprise his role as Michael. But Pacino wanted $7 million plus a percentage of the gross. Francis Ford Coppola refused. He threatened to rewrite the script by starting the story with Michael's funeral sequence instead of the film's introduction.
However, even despite the franchise featuring tons of murders and deaths, a shockingly small number of actors with speaking parts were in all three movies. Excluding John Cazale, who posthumously appears in The Godfather Part III in a flashback, these four actors remained tentpoles of the franchise.
