Al Pacino could have piloted the Millenium Falcon.
Via a Variety report, Pacino touched on his almost taking a lead role in “Star Wars” during a talk at the 92nd Street Y in New York.
“Well, I turned down ‘Star Wars.’ 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,” the Oscar winner 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.”
Beyond discussing his passing on one of the biggest film franchises of all time, he also touched on viewing his iconic performance in “The Godfather” after not seeing it for many years.
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Pacino recalled a story where the film’s director, Francis Ford Coppola, asked to meet with him during filming.
“I came in, and he said, ‘You know, I had a lot of faith in you. And you’re failing me,’” he said. “I’m standing there thinking ‘What the f*ck did I do?’”
Pacino then went to production company Paramount to watch his early footage and understood what his director was trying to tell him.
“I wanted to come out of nowhere, and by the end of the film create some kind of enigma,” the actor 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.’”
Pacino then said a scene where his character shoots a cop is what made Paramount believe he could carry the role.
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He also remarked his most “gratifying” role came in the movie “Scarface”.
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