The iconic movie roles that James Caan rejected: “I’ve made some bad choices”
American actor James Caan became a Hollywood icon after starring as Sonny Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather and its subsequent sequel. While his incredible performance as one of the Corleone clan is perhaps what he is best remembered for, Caan starred in countless productions over the years, both on stage and screen.
Like many established movie stars, Caan began on Broadway after he started to take an interest in acting while at college, stating that he simply “fell in love” with the craft. His theatre training prepared him for roles on screen, with his first being an episode of Naked City.
He landed his first film role in 1963 with a small part in Irma la Douce. However, by the decade’s end, Caan began appearing in more movies, such as Robert Altman’s Countdown and William Graham’s Submarine X-1. The actor made his first collaboration with Coppola in 1969, starring in his road movie The Rain People.
This led to his casting in The Godfather, although he almost portrayed Al Pacino’s Michael Corleone instead. That’s not the only role that Caan almost played. Throughout his career, he has turned down some of the most iconic roles in cinema, which would have launched him to even greater acclaim.
Caan rejected the role of R.P McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, which eventually went to Jack Nicholson. It proved to be one of the actor’s greatest performances, earning him an Oscar for ‘Best Actor’. Talking to Howard Stern, Caan once revealed that he “turned down Cuckoo’s Nest four times before Jack got it.”
However, it seems as though Caan regrets his decision, also stating in reference to the movie, “At the time, I thought – because I’m a genius – it wasn’t visual enough. It took place in these four walls. I didn’t know that Miloš Forman was as good as he was. It’s my opinion that I’m stuck with, unfortunately. I’ve made some bad choices.”
Elsewhere, Caan also turned down the role of Superman, who was instead played by Christopher Reeves in the 1978 film Superman: The Movie. Marlon Brando, who starred in The Godfather as Caan’s on-screen father, would also be playing the patriarchal role, but Caan passed up the chance to work with him again due to costume requirements. The actor was not interested in wearing a superhero suit, which would involve tights.
Another significant movie that Caan turned down was Apocalypse Now, which was also directed by Coppola. Despite the success of The Godfather and its sequel suggesting that Apocolypse Now could have been another career-defining moment for Caan, he wasn’t interested.
He told Contact Music: “It wasn’t going to be 16 weeks and we wanted money. And then Francis Ford Coppola said, ‘Listen Jimmy, I’ll tell you what, we’ll live in Manila and we’ll fly by helicopter.’ I said, ‘That’s two things I hate—height and tsetse flies… I can’t do this. That was a wonderful picture, but that last 15 minutes was cerebral horsecrap… I don’t know what that meant.”
