The era-defining roles that Al Pacino turned down
The thing people tend to forget about acting is that half of an actor’s success is dependent on foresight. It’s an occupation built on optimism, after all, and the most successful actors tend to be those who know how to spot an award-winning project from a mile off. That being said, there are numerous examples of brilliant actors foolishly turning down iconic roles. Take Al Pacino for example, who once turned down the role of Han Solo in George Lucas’ era-defining space-western, Star Wars.
To be fair to Pacino, the offer came at a time when he was “offered everything”. After appearing as a heroin addict in The Panic in Needle Park, he’d caught the attention of an ambitious young director called Francis Ford Coppola, who was then looking for actors for his film The Godfather. Pacino’s performance as Michael Corleone would earn him an Academy Award nomination – establishing him as one of the most sought-after actors in Hollywood. Everyone wanted Pacino in their movie – even George Lucas. The director was hoping that Pacino might drop by and audition for the role of gun-slinging space cowboy Han Solo, but, unfortunately for Lucas, Pacino found the Star Wars script too confusing. “I remember not understanding (the script) when I read it,” he once told MTV. “I was in The Godfather. They didn’t care if I was right or wrong for the role, if I could act or not act.”
Pacino would later describe the decision as “another missed opportunity”. Of course, for Star Wars fans, the actor’s loss was cinema’s gain. After he rejected the offer, Harrison Ford came forward and took the role, cementing Han Solo as arguably the most iconic anti-hero of the ’70s. Pacino’s observation that it was yet “another” missed opportunity is a reminder that the actor has a pretty extensive history of turning down iconic roles. As well as Han Solo, Pacino rejected an offer to play Travis Bickle in Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver. He wasn’t the only one. Dustin Hoffman also turned down the role, later admitting that he did so because he thought Scorsese must be some sort of psychopath. Al was also offered Bruce Willis’ role in Die Hard but didn’t think the project had any legs, leading him to make the modest claim that he handed Willis his career on a plate.
Al would later admit that, despite being the toast of Hollywood for a time, he was never ” a very good judge of what’s good”. Still, he doesn’t seem to have done too badly. Pacino is still consistently referred to as one of the most iconic living actors in Hollywood, and if that’s not worth something, I don’t know what is.
You can check out some footage of Al Pacino giving it his all in Martin Scorsese’s 2019 crime drama The Irishman below.
