It may be his most famous film, but Al Pacino got off to a rocky start The Godfather-To the point that the film's director told him that he didn't live up to expectations.

Pacino's breakthrough role was the role of Michael Corleone The Godfather trilogy, Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola. For his performance in the series, Pacino was nominated for two Oscars, two Golden Globes and two BAFTAs.

However, the star has now revealed that there was initial resistance from Paramount Studios to taking on the role, which led to director Coppola inviting him to a restaurant to tell him he couldn't do it.

Talk about the Conan O'Brien needs a friend Podcast to promote his new autobiography, Sonny Boy, Pacino told O'Brien that Coppola wanted to meet him one day at the Ginger Man restaurant in New York.

“He (Coppola) tells me, 'You know, I believed in you,' and I said, 'Yeah, I know,'” Pacino said. “He says, 'Well, you can't do it,' and I thought, 'Oh, what should I do?'” Do it now, what should I say now? I said, “Well, I think that would be a problem, so tell me what you mean.”

Pacino then reports that Coppola showed him the Rushes (already filmed footage) at the Paramount Theater.

“I've looked at the rushes, and I look at footage of different things, and I think, well, it's not spectacular, but why should it be? You know, I was hoping that I could blend in with the landscape and not be seen. I just wanted to blend in and be natural.

“So of course I said to Francis – acting on actor's instincts, of course – 'Yes, I see what you mean.' That always calms everyone down,” Pacino said on the podcast.

From that moment on, Pacino says he thought he was “out of the movie”, but he managed to redeem himself with the onslaught of the iconic restaurant scene in which Michael Corleone shoots Sollozzo and McCluskey, despite the fact that he did not feel the same during filming It had a sprained ankle.

Pacino goes into more detail about this moment in his book, writing: “Francis showed the studio the restaurant scene, and when they looked at it, there was something there. Because of that scene I just performed, they kept me in the film.”

“So I wasn’t fired The Godfather. I just kept doing what I was doing, what I was thinking about on those lonely walks through Manhattan. I had a plan, a direction that I really believed was the right path for this character. And I was sure Francis felt the same way.

Newsweek has emailed Pacino's representatives seeking further comment.