Francis Ford Coppola went to extreme lengths to cast Al Pacino as Michael Corleone in The Godfather. Although it was easier compared to casting Marlon Brando, Paramount was initially adamant about casting bigger names in Michael’s role. Pacino had to withdraw from another project to join Coppola’s film. Despite overcoming these challenges, Pacino feared that the movie would turn out to be bad, particularly after filming the wedding sequence in the film.
Pacino got really drunk with his co-star Diane Keaton after the sequence and shared his apprehension with her. Fortunately, the Insomnia actor was proved wrong as the film went on to become the biggest blockbuster at the time, grossing between $250-$290 million.
Al Pacino Feared The Godfather Would Flop After Filming One Scene
The Godfather celebrated its 45th anniversary in 2017 at the Tribeca Film Festival. The reunion event included director Francis Ford Coppola and stars including Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, and Robert De Niro. They attended a question-and-answer session where the actors provided some surprising insights into the making of the epic crime drama.
Pacino especially held nothing back, revealing his worries about the film’s outcome during filming. The Oscar-winning actor admitted that one particular scene scared him — the wedding scene between his character and Keaton’s Kay Adams. The scene had to be filmed in artificial light due to the crew running way behind schedule.
The Dog Day Afternoon actor revealed that there was so much chaos on the set that he and Keaton decided to get drunk. Keaton was seemingly amused at this revelation, but the Scarface actor continued that they talked about the film and that he shared his apprehensions with Keaton about The Godfather being the worst film ever made. Al Pacino shared at the Tribeca Film Festival:
“Diane and I in that wedding thing… I mean we got so loaded after that wedding scene. A lot of chaos going on there. We got back and we started drinking and we were just talking about ‘Where do we go from here? We’re done. It’s the worst film ever made.’”
The Scent of a Woman actor was so wrong about his prediction, as the film went on to grab multiple awards at the Oscars, Golden Globes, BAFTA, and Grammys. The film won the Best Picture Oscar and it also helped establish Al Pacino as a Hollywood icon.
Francis Ford Coppola Pushed For Al Pacino’s Casting As Michael Corleone
Michael Corleone was one of the last roles to be cast in the film, as Paramount executives eyed a popular actor. They wanted Robert Redford to take the lead whereas producer Robert Evans wanted to cast Ryan O’Neal. However, Al Pacino was Coppola’s choice as he was a relatively unknown actor and fitted the Italian-American description required for the role.
However, Paramount found Pacino too short for the role and continued to audition several other actors for the role. At one point, Burt Reynolds was offered the role but he decided to decline the offer after Marlon Brando threatened to quit if Reynolds was cast. Coppola eventually was able to convince the producers to cast Pacino in the role.
The Irishman actor faced another challenge as he had already signed a contract to star in MGM’s The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight. MGM and Paramount reached a settlement and Al Pacino left the signed film to join The Godfather.
All three films in The Godfather trilogy are now available for streaming on Paramount+.
