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.
Who was originally supposed to play Michael Corleone?
Numerous actors, many of whom were bankable stars, were considered to play Michael. From Jack Nicholson to Warren Beatty and Robert Redford, some of Hollywood's biggest stars were either offered the role or turned it down. Coppola held out for Pacino, but Paramount made a move to cast James Caan as Michael.
Al Pacino's portrayal of Michael Corleone in The Godfather is iconic and synonymous with the character's image in the minds of audiences. Jack Nicholson turned down the role of Michael Corleone because he believed that actors should stick to playing characters of their own ethnicity.
Who almost played Michael Corleone in The Godfather?
Warren Beatty was offered the chance to direct, produce and star as Michael but turned it down. {Can you imagine Warren Beatty directing the Godfather?) Dustin Hoffman and Jack Nicholson both turned down the role of Michael.
Hard as it may be to believe, Brando was not the first choice to play Don Vito Corleone. The British legend Sir Laurence Olivier was the first actor to be offered the role. Sir Laurence pleaded date issues.
The REAL Reason Michael Corleone Changed in The Godfather 3
Who was the original choice for The Godfather?
When Francis Ford Coppola and Paramount Pictures set out to cast the role of Michael Corleone in The Godfather, they had a disagreement. The studio wanted Robert Redford, Warren Beatty or Ryan O'Neal.
Was Al Pacino the first choice to play Michael Corleone?
As well as Marlon Brando, Al Pacino is synonymous with 'The Godfather', but the actor wasn't Paramount's first choice for Michael Corleone. The likes of Robert Redford and Ryan O'Neal were in the running for the role, while Martin Sheen and James Caan (who went on to play Sonny Corleone) screen-tested for the part.
Diane Keaton said she was cast before Al Pacino in the 1972 classic gangster flick "The Godfather." The actress said Pacino was not the first choice to star as Michael Corleone in the Francis Ford Coppola film. "Nobody wanted Al Pacino.
Damone eventually declined the role because of a salary dispute and also because he did not want to provoke the mob or anger Frank Sinatra, whom Damone profoundly respected. Ultimately, the part of Johnny Fontane was given to Martino.
Anthony Perkins not only auditioned for Sonny, but also for Tom Hagen. Originally Caan was to be cast as the main character Michael Corleone (Sonny's youngest brother), while Carmine Caridi was signed as Sonny. However Coppola demanded that the role of Michael be played by Al Pacino instead.
But she wasn't the first choice for the role. Three horror movie starlets — Rosemary's Baby's Mia Farrow, Don't Look Now's Julie Christie, and Trilogy of Terror's Karen Black (who got her film debut in Francis Ford Coppola's You're a Big Boy Now) — were also considered to play Kay.
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.
Who was Jack Nicholson going to play in The Godfather?
He believed Chinatown and The Last Detail had stronger scripts than The Godfather and The Sting. Although initially interested in playing Michael Corleone, Nicholson felt he was the wrong choice for the role.
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.
Roth is a Jewish mobster and investor, and a business partner of Vito Corleone and later his son Michael Corleone. He is based on notorious mobster and gambling kingpin Meyer Lansky. It was Al Pacino who suggested Lee Strasberg, his former acting teacher, for the role.
Who was the first choice to play Michael Corleone in The Godfather but turned it down?
The part of Michael Corleone was first offered to Dustin Hoffman, who turned it down due to his involvement in Bob Fosse's Lenny. Hoffman was at the peak of his career after successful hits such as The Graduate and Straw Dogs.
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.
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.
Vito is originally portrayed by Marlon Brando in the 1972 film The Godfather, and later by Oreste Baldini as a boy and by Robert De Niro as a young man in The Godfather Part II (1974). He is an orphaned Sicilian immigrant who builds a Mafia empire.
Who was offered the role of The Godfather? While the studio definitely did not want Brando, they were considering Laurence Olivier or Ernest Borgnine for the role of Vito Corleone. Olivier was a horrible choice.
Did Al Pacino and Diane Keaton get along in Godfather?
Pacino and Keaton met on the set of The Godfather in 1971, where Pacino scored his career-making role as Michael Corleone. Keaton instantly crushed on her costar. “I was mad for him. Charming, hilarious, a nonstop talker,” she told PEOPLE in 2017.
Vito Corleone is loosely based on Giuseppe “Joe” Profaci who's cover was also that of an olive oil importer. Many of the stories in Mario Puzo's book are based on actual events during the war between the Gallo Brothers and the Profaci faction.
De Niro auditioned for the character of Sonny Corleone in the first The Goodfather film in 1972 and after a difficult decision, Francis Ford Coppola preferred Caan, who died Thursday at the age of 82.
Roth, suddenly realizing that Michael is on to him, gives a great speech which, nevertheless, confirms that Roth has long had a secret vendetta against Michael, thereby confirming Roth's guilt… “When Mo Greene was killed… I never asked who gave the order. I said to myself, THIS is the BUSINESS we've chosen!
