Get our free weekly email with the latest cinema news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey

Get our The Life Cinematic email for free

Get our The Life Cinematic email for free

Al Pacino has spoken about his early struggles on set The Godfatherand revealed that he was almost “fired” from the production due to doubts about his performance.

The 84-year-old actor played the role of Michael Corleone, the prodigal son of mafia boss Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando), in the groundbreaking 1972 crime film.

While he received rave reviews and an Oscar nomination for his role in the film, Pacino recalled the negative response to his work after the first few scenes were filmed.

In an excerpt from his new memoirs Sonny Boy published in The GuardianPacino said he didn't like the scene he had to audition with, which was emotionally reserved and consisted largely of exposition. Nevertheless, he won the role because director Francis Ford Coppola chose him over everyone else.

After filming began, he wrote, “(Co-star Diane Keaton) and I spent the first few days laughing together and having to perform the opening wedding exhibition scene from the screen test that we hated so much. “

“Based on just that one scene, we were sure we were in the worst picture ever, and when we were done filming for the day, we were going to go back to Manhattan and get drunk. We thought our careers were over.”

According to Pacino, when executives at Paramount studios began viewing the footage, they asked themselves “whether I was the right actor for the role.”

Open image in gallery

“There was a rumor on set that I was going to be fired from the film,” he said. “You could feel that loss of momentum when we shot. When I was working, there was unease among people, even among the crew. I was very aware of that.

“It was said that I would be fired, and probably the director too. Not that Francis couldn't do it – I didn't. But he was the one responsible for me being in the film.”

At this point, he met with Coppola, who told him that he didn't think Pacino “worked.”

“The next day I went into a screening room. And when I looked at the footage, all the scenes from the beginning of the film, I thought to myself: I don't think there's anything spectacular here,” he recalls. “I didn't know what to think about it. But the effect was definitely what I wanted. I didn't want to be seen.

“My whole plan for Michael was to show that this kid was oblivious and didn't have a particularly charismatic personality. My idea was that this guy came out of nowhere. That was the power of that characterization. This was the only way it could work: the emergence of this person, the discovery of his abilities and potential. By the end of the film I hoped I had created a mystery. And I think that's what Francis was hoping for. But neither of us knew how to explain it to the other.”

Open image in gallery

According to Pacino, a scene was then moved up in the shooting schedule where I could “show what I'm capable of”: the restaurant scene in which Michael takes revenge on two of his enemies.

“Francis showed the studio the restaurant scene, and when they looked at it, there was something there,” he wrote. “They kept me in the film because of the scene I just played. So I didn't get fired The Godfather.”

Sonny Boy will be released on Tuesday, October 15th.