Al Pacino recently shared on the ‘Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend’ podcast that he wanted to leave ‘The Godfather’ role after director Francis Ford Coppola criticized his performance.
He shared, “I went, saw the rushes, and I’m looking at the screen and I’m seeing the takes of different things. I’m thinking, ‘Well, this is not spectacular, but why should it be?’ Because I was hoping that I could blend in with the scenery and not be seen specifically, or, you know, spotted and wow. You know?”
“I just wanted to just blend and just be natural. And I thought, ‘Well, I know that’s the way it looks now, but that’s part of what is going to turn into Michael Corleone and that’s gonna be the impact, because where did this guy come from?’”
Pacino also admitted that after this, he hoped an on-set injury could get him out of the role. He hurt his ankle while filming a scene where Michael kills Virgil Sollozzo and Captain McCluskey at a restaurant.
“My ankle was hurt, somehow it slipped,” the actor shared. “The car had one of those things that you could jump on and then jump in. So, I was just looking up at the sky and I said, ‘Thank you, God.’ This was my thought. I actually said, ‘Thank you, God. You’re gonna get me out of this film.’ That’s how much I wanted to leave it. I said, ‘This is from heaven.’”
But his injury quickly received treatment, helping him finish filming that day. Pacino ultimately stayed in the movie, later reprising the role for two more films as Michael Corleone rose to take his father’s place.
