Variety reports that legendary actor Al Pacino had all sorts of stories to share at a talk he did at the 92nd Street Y in NYC this week. Among them: Pacino turned down the role of Han Solo in “Star Wars,” despite “so much money” being offered him. As the actor tells it: “I gave Harrison Ford his career.”
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“Well, I turned down “Star Wars,” started Pacino during his talk. “When I first came up, I was the new kid on the block, you know what happens when you first become famous. It’s like, ‘Give it to Al.’ They’d give me Queen Elizabeth to play,” Pacino said. “They gave me a script called “Star Wars.” … They offered me so much money. I don’t understand it. I read it. … So I said I couldn’t do it. I gave Harrison Ford a career.”
Al Pacino as Han Solo? It doesn’t sound like a good fit, but remember than Pacino was an up-and-coming star thanks to “The Godfather” films, while Ford was still a carpenter and relative unknown. And speaking of “The Godfather,” Pacino told the crowd he recently rewatched the film for the first time in 25 years. He also recounted how he thought Paramount would fire him early in that film’s production.
Apparently, director Francis Ford Coppola invited Pacino to meet him one night after filming while he was dining with his family. “I came in, and he said, ‘You know, I had a lot of faith in you. And you’re failing me,’” Pacino said. “I’m standing there thinking ‘What the fuck, what did I do?’” “Go to Paramount,” replied Coppola. After watching footage from filming, Pacino realized he hadn’t figured out Michael Corleone’s journey as a character. “I wanted to come out of nowhere, and by the end of the film create some kind of enigma,” he said. “His transition is what interested me, and I thought I was unable to save it. After the first day of shooting, Diane Keaton and I got drunk. We thought ‘This is it, our careers are over.’”
So what helped Pacino get more in touch with Michael Corleone? “The Solozzo scene, where Michael shoots the cop,” answered the actor. “Coppola pushed that up, because he thought Paramount was about to fire me,” Pacino said. “I do the scene, they liked it, and they kept me in because I shot someone.” Pacino told the crowd a story about shooting that scene will open his memoir, which he sold to Penguin Press last year. The actor hopes that book will set the record straight about making of “The Godfather”; Pacino asserts that only “half” of “The Offer,” last year’s mini-series about the film’s production, is true.
Elsewhere in the talk, Pacino mentioned other famous films of his, like “Scarface” and “Heat.” Of Brian De Palma‘s 1983 film, Pacino said a hand injury forced him to leave shooting for two weeks. During that time, several directors, including Steven Spielberg, showed up to try their hand at shooting the film’s epic final shootout. “I was gone,” Pacino recounted, “but they shot the shit out of it. They shot so much while I was away. Spielberg came down and had a crack at shooting someone. Everyone wanted to do it.”
As for Michael Mann‘s “Heat,” Pacino said he played Detective Vincent Hanna as if he had a cocaine addiction. “Here’s the thing with “Heat”: I hope you see it again, audience,” said Pacino. “I was playing this cop, and I found a way in, but this is a detective who’s kind of wild. I thought he probably chipped cocaine. That will explain to you some of my, uh…,” the actor laughed. “The thing is, there was no cocaine sniffing in the film, but I was.”
Now 82, Pacino’s recent work include Prime Video‘s “Hunters” and Ridley Scott‘s 2021 film “House Of Gucci.” Up next for the actor? Michael Redford‘s adaptation of “King Lear,” with Bernard Rose penning the script.