Movies Interesting Facts 
Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather is considered one of the greatest films of all time. It seems hard to accept that any actor would turn down an iconic role like Michael Corleone, but Jack Nicholson, one of Hollywood’s biggest stars at the time, did. In a 2004 interview with the BBC, the actor admitted that he was offered the role, but turned it down for several reasons, one of which was that he felt the actor who would play the role would be Italian. Should be. (Also Read: The Godfather star Al Pacino’s unconventional announcement of best film goes viral)
What did Al Pacino say?
In the interview, he revealed that he rejected both The Godfather and The Sting, saying, “Yeah, it’s true and I think I had enough business acumen, I knew by then that The Sting and “The Godfather” were both going to be huge.” Hit. Also, I think The Last Detail and Chinatown…those were more interesting films to me.”
He continued, “[The] The Godfather was going to be a good film. i always wanted to work with marlon [Brando], but I was asked to play the lead role and, A) I thought it should be an Italian guy and B) I didn’t have any scenes with Marlon in the script I read. And I thought, OK, I’m only liable to work with Marlon one time and hope that it could be something where we actually get to work together.
more information
The Godfather was an American gangster epic film revolving around the Corleone family put together by patriarch Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando). The film was a commercial and critical success, winning awards for Best Picture, Best Actor (Brando), and Best Adapted Screenplay (for Mario Puzo and Coppola). The film also spawned two sequels.
A film based on the making of The Godfather is also in production, titled Francis and the Godfather. Jake Gyllenhaal is set to star in the film directed by Barry Levinson.
