“The studios didn’t want me, nobody wanted me.” Al Pacino was baffled by the faith Francis Ford Coppola had in him, taking a risk and casting him in The Godfather
When filmmakers and Al Pacino himself didn't believe in himself, Francis Ford Coppola took a risk by involving him in The Godfather. He saw in the actor what he didn’t see in himself.
The Godfather, and as a result, the decision to cast him in the film by Francis Ford Coppola seems to have been a good one, but this wasn’t always thought to be the case.
Pacino himself was surprised that Coppola decided to take such a risk and hired a then still not very well-known actor, who mostly performed on stage, while he was not yet been much on screen. During an interview with Pacino felt that many people didn't want him there.
Before The Godfather, the first Godfather, nobody else wanted me. But Francis wanted me! He just wanted me, and I didn’t understand it… The studios didn’t want me, nobody wanted me – nobody knew me.
The actor made his mark in the film industry precisely thanks to his performance in The Godfather, after which others saw in him what only Francis Ford Coppola had previously seen in him, entrusting him with a major role in his iconic work.
Pacino himself found it hard to believe that anyone was willing to give him such a big chance, since, as his statement suggests, he had previously faced rejection and disbelief from others in the film industry, which was due to the fact that before The Godfather he was primarily a stage actor whom movie fans and those associated with cinema might not have known.
However, after The Godfather, everything changed and Pacino began to receive more and more chances from filmmakers, allowing him to work on his own legendary status.
- “Sort of asinine, sort of cliched, sort of unnecessary.” Morgan Freeman refused to film The Shawshank Redemption scene he described as “overkill”
- It went unnoticed, but Simon Helberg from The Big Bang Theory 3 years earlier played almost the same role in the Friends universe
- “How could you do something so fun and be so miserable.” Tom Hardy hated making this movie and has no intention of starring in a similar one
- “The most irresponsible bit of filmmaking.” Harrison Ford really likes the movie Brad Pitt starred in just to avoid being sued
- “It seemed like a fun storyline.” Aarti Mann's character in The Big Bang Theory was so unpopular that she wasn't kept on the show for too long