Fans of the iconic film The Godfather were shocked to discover that one of its major stars was “almost fired” just a week into the shoot. Despite becoming an iconic piece of Hollywood history, it emerged that one key player who appeared throughout the trilogy, faced the prospect of dismissal.
Filming was already a challenge for director Francis Ford Coppola, who fought hard to get the epic, Marlon Brando-starring gangster saga greenlit, with his own job hanging in the balance. The star involved later spoke about their astonishment at narrowly escaping the axe, remembering their initial horror at the idea. Over on Reddit’s r/TodayILearned subreddit, users have been sharing snippets from the actor who was “nearly fired” as well as tidbits regarding the director’s peril.
Initial decisions to potentially remove the famed duo occurred before the studio could view a rough edit of the film – fortunately, they remained on board, cementing their places in cinematic lore.
A remark in the Reddit thread announcing this fascinating slice of film trivia. It reads: “The Godfather almost didn’t get made because Paramount didn’t believe in it, and the director nearly got fired before the studio saw the rough cut. It went on to become one of the most iconic films of all time.”
Al Pacino, the performer in jeopardy of losing his role, would go on to define his career with appearances in both The Godfather II and III.
This revelation of Al Pacino’s near miss has left fans abuzz, especially following his confirmation that he was indeed almost let go by Coppola, reportedly not “cutting it” in his leading capacity.
Pacino reflected on a moment of doubt from the past: “You know how much you mean to me, how much faith I had in you. And Francis said, ‘Well, you’re not cutting it.'”.
This introspection is taken from Pacino’s memoir, “Sonny Boy,” which hit shelves towards the end of last year. He continued: ” I felt that one in the pit of my stomach. It’s when it finally hit me that my job was on the line. I said to Francis, ‘What do we do here?'”.
“He said: ‘I put together rushes of what we’ve shot already. Why don’t you take a look at it yourself? Because I don’t think it’s working. You’re not working.'”.
The news that Pacino was nearly dismissed from the iconic film set caused quite a stir among aficionados, many of whom expressed that the cinematic masterpiece would have lost its essence without him.
One Reddit connoisseur remarked: “They also didn’t believe in Al Pacino as lead… how wrong could they be in the end…” And, amidst the mix of opinions, another pointed out that doubts about the success of the picture were swirling even before the cameras rolled, largely due to co-star Marlon Brando’s unconventional approach.
A user disclosed: “The Godfather was a very popular novel before it became a movie, and there was a lot of pre-production anticipation. Word from the gossip columnists was that Marlon Brando insisted on stuffing his mouth with cotton balls and mumbling his lines, and the whole movie was destined to be a bad joke and a huge flop.”
Another hinted that Coppola wasn’t a significant enough figure to shoulder the project at that time, suggesting: “At the time he had made a number of complete bombs. He outbid everyone else for the book rights by paying an excessive fee. It was a last desperate move to rescue his career.”
Indeed, it’s an incredible film, but most people don’t get the chance to fail that many times and then purchase their way into one of the era’s most sought-after literary properties.”
