Al Pacino’s Desperation to Leave ‘The Godfather’

Although Pacino had won praise for his role as a heroin addict in the 1971 drama Panic in Needle Parkit was a heavy film that did not enjoy a wide audience and it is fair to assume that without The GodfatherPacino might not have had the illustrious career that he has had. As grateful as the actor was to get the role of Michael Corleone, he found the process of making the film so challenging that he wanted to quit.

In an interview with Conan O’Brien about his memoirs Sonny boy earlier this year, Pacino revealed that at one point he was willing to do almost anything to get out of the movie entirely, and how an injury on set almost made him want to.

“My ankle was injured, somehow it slipped,” he reported. “The car had one of those things on the side that you could jump on and then jump into. So I just looked up at the sky and I said, ‘Thank God.’ This was my thought. I actually said, ‘Thank God. You’re getting me out of this movie.’ That’s how much I wanted to leave it.”

The on-set challenges know The Godfather pales in comparison to Coppola’s 1979 film Apocalypse nowbut there was so much drama that it became the subject of the 2022 TV series The offer. Aside from Coppola’s constant bickering with the studio, Brando refused to learn his lines, the production was threatened by the actual mob, and Paramount considered firing Pacino after seeing early footage of his performance.

Pacino’s frustrations continued even after the film was released. When he was nominated for ‘Best Supporting Actor’ at the Academy Awards and Brando was nominated for ‘Best Actor’, he boycotted the ceremony, believing (rightly) that his relative time on screen warranted a ‘Best Actor’ nomination . Brando also boycotted the event, but not out of protest on Pacino’s behalf. He famously sent a Native American activist to decline the award, creating one of the most memorable moments in the academy’s history.

Ultimately, Pacino must have resolved his conflicts with the franchise because he returned for the sequel two years later. Coppola had almost complete control of the film this time, and as a result the set was a lot less tumultuous. In the end, Pacino got the ‘Best Actor’ nomination he was looking for, although it would take another few decades before he finally won.

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