We know that Al Pacino was almost fired from The Godfather. But do we know which scene it was that saved his role – and his career?
While The Godfather movies are often considered the magnum opus of Al Pacino’s career, he’s never made a secret of the fact that he was almost fired from the role of Michael Corleone. One scene, however, saved him from being sacked – thanks to Francis Ford Coppola‘s quick thinking and belief in Pacino.
When Coppola saw that the studios were considered letting Pacino go, he pulled some strings to move a key scene up – the one where Michael Corleone lets go of his stoic persona and shows his loyalty to the family business by murdering a cop and another mobster after an attempt on his father’s life.
Apparently, Pacino’s performance in the scene was enough for the studios to put their faith in him.
“They were going to let me go. Francis said, ‘I want you to know, I believe in you. Francis pushes that scene forward. The studio liked it,” Pacino spoke of the scene in question at celebration for the movie’s 50th anniversary at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Pacino’s presence in the movie was a point of contention for the studios, so much so that they wanted him gone even after two weeks into the shoot. In fact, according to him, they didn’t want Pacino in the movie in the first place.
“They didn’t want me, and there were a series of tests. … We finally got to shoot, they accepted,” “Because Jerry Schatzberg, my great friend and director, gave them eight minutes from Panic in Needle Park. And when they saw the footage they hired me.”
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Part of their reasoning was that they didn’t think Pacino’s creative vision for Corleone was right. Pacino, however, disagreed, but it was ultimately Francis Ford Coppola who was able to change his mind by persuading him to take a second look at the footage.
“Francis said, ‘Listen, you know I believe in you and all this, but you gotta take a look at the footage.’ So I went to the Paramount building and looked at the footage, cause I knew this was it, my job is over now. And I watched the footage, which I didn’t think was good, or great or anything, but it wasn’t really bad because it was what I was thinking about in this role.” he recalled in an earlier talk with GQ.
According to him, he wanted Michael Corleone to transform from a kid into a cold-blooded gangster, which dictated the way he approached the role.
“I had given a lot of thought to this role because you had to. It’s a certain kind of role. And I thought, ‘The power of the role was in the transition from this kid.’ You don’t quite know who he is, where he’s going and then before you know it, he becomes this leader without tracking it. So I liked that I would help create a kind of enigmatic person.” Pacino said at the time.
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Watch the restaurant scene from The Godfather:
