Why Michael Corleone from ‘The Godfather’ was “the most difficult role” of Al Pacino’s career
When we think back to that period of Hollywood where everything changed, certain faces come to mind, such as Jack Nicholson, Dennis Hopper, Sissy Spacek, Harvey Keitel, Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. These actors starred in movies which would shape the changing landscape of the mainstream film industry, working with filmmakers like Brian De Palma, Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola.
The New Hollywood era was one of the most significant periods in the history of cinema, with a group of passionate cinephiles rising in opposition to studio-bound productions. There was a desire to make movies which dealt with more complex and relatable themes, even if they were nihilistic and bleak. Inspired by foreign and experimental cinema and aided by the removal of the censorial Hays Code, movies became bloodier, sexier and grittier.
These changes are reflected in early entries to the movement, such as Bonnie and Clyde, which ends with the couple being brutally shot to death rather than riding off into the sunset together towards a happy Hollywood ending. Easy Rider saw its two main characters, played by director Dennis Hopper and co-writer Peter Fonda, suffer a similar fate, with the bikers both meeting their demise against a backdrop of a fading dream – a once-prosperous America disappearing out of view.
Pacino scored one of his earliest roles in 1971, appearing in Jerry Schatzberg’s bleak love story, The Panic in Needle Park, where he played a drug dealer from a script penned by Joan Didion and her husband, John Gregory Dunne. The movie put him on the map, leading him to bag one of his defining roles as Michael Corleone in The Godfather.
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, the movie experienced a complicated pre-production process. There were tensions between Paramount and the young director, who felt like everyone was conspiring against him. Still, he persevered, and the film was a huge success, with many critics labelling it the first true blockbuster or at least a proto-blockbuster.
Pacino’s performance as Michael, who becomes a mafia boss despite initial hesitancies to get involved in his family business, was highly lauded, earning him a ‘Best Supporting Actor’ nomination at the Academy Awards, competing against his co-stars Robert Duvall and James Caan.
The actor had very little experience before he managed to secure the part, but he brought immense depth and complexity to his character, demonstrating an incredible metamorphosis into a cruel and violent mafia leader. For Pacino, the character remains “the most difficult role I’ve played,” even decades later. He told The Guardian, “I didn’t see him as a gangster; I felt his power was his enigmatic quality. Unfortunately, the studio couldn’t see that at first and were thinking of firing me.”
It’s hard to imagine anyone else playing Pacino’s part, and without the role, the actor might not have gone on to land the jobs he did in the coming years, such as leading parts in Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon and Scarface. Pacino quickly became a Hollywood icon, partly due to his role in The Godfather, which was the highest-grossing movie ever made during 1972, until it was usurped by Jaws.
