Is there an alternate reality, or galaxy far, far away, where Al Pacino played Han Solo?
The “Godfather” star, 82, revealed he was offered the part of the iconic Millennium Falcon captain in the original 1977 “Star Wars” film, but that he turned it down. Instead, the role went to Harrison Ford, launching his famed career.
“Well, I turned down ‘Star Wars,’ ” Pacino told Variety in an article published Thursday. “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.”
He continued: “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.”
Pacino played Michael Corleone in 1972’s “The Godfather,” 1974’s “The Godfather Part II” and 1990’s “The Godfather Part III.” He reflected on the differences between the first and second “Godfather” movies in an interview with David Rubenstein as part of the “People Who Inspire Us” series Wednesday.
“You see, ‘The Godfather’ is more entertaining. ‘Godfather II’ is this study, this personal thing for Francis (Ford Coppola),” Pacino said, per The Hollywood Reporter. “’Godfather I,’ I saw it recently, it’s always got two or three things going on in a scene. You’re always in the story, you’re going. You don’t know what’s going to happen next, it’s storytelling, it’s really storytelling at its best. ‘Godfather II’ sort of linearizes, and (it’s) kind of different, somber, moves slowly. But it’s a great movie, I have to say.”
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