Al Pacino accepted an offer he couldn’t refuse in The Godfather, but his health almost did when it came to the sequel.
The movie star wasn’t well-known in Tinsel Town when the first film came out. Bosses didn’t want to cast Al Pacino as Michael Corleone, and even considered Dustin Hoffman and Jack Nicholson for the part. But writer Francis Ford Coppola who brought The Godfather to the silver screen from Mario Puzo’s book, was adamant he play the part. Luckily, he did. But The Godfather II, the 1974 sequel, almost took Al Pacino’s life as his health took a turn for the worst.
Al Pacino almost died while filming The Godfather sequel
After Al Pacino’s critically-acclaimed performance as Michael in The Godfather in 1972, it pushed him to become a big name in Hollywood. The star went on to feature in Scarecrow and Serpico, and already had two Oscar nominations under his belt.
Two years later, he was preparing to reprise his role alongside Robert De Niro in the sequel.
However, while filming, Al was hit with a serious illness and taken to hospital while the crew were filming in the Dominican Republic.
The Godfather co-star Lee Strasberg worried about Al Pacino’s health and rang his doctor when his condition worsened in hospital.
His physician stepped in and flew the celebrity back to the US for treatment, and when he recovered, told him it could have been fatal if he didn’t fly back that day.
Al told Entertainment Weekly: “The doctor told me I would have died if I’d been in there one more day.
Despite suffering at the time, he recovered and he went on to receive another Academy Award nomination.
The star has been nominated nine times but only walked away with the golden statue once – for his role in Scent of a Woman which he also snatched up a Golden Globe.
The scene that saved him and the director
Many movie fans will hail The Godfather films as one of the greatest trilogies from the industry, and it’s odd to think Al Pacino may not have been a part of it.
The studio wanted a bigger name for the bill when casting, but Coppola was adamant on hiring Al.
The actor himself didn’t think he’d get the part, thinking he would be given another character.
He said: ”I didn’t understand why Francis wanted me to play that part.”
”I was shocked, like everybody else. I always thought he wanted me for Sonny, but Michael was the only character he saw me as”.
But the director had butted heads with the studio more than once while filming too, over creative differences for the tragedy.
Paramount grew concerned about his vision for the film, but one vital scene with Al Pacino in The Godfather helped them change their minds.
The scene in question is when Michael shoots a corrupt police officer and a drug dealer in cold-blood in a small Italian restaurant. It’s seen as the ‘awakening’ of Michael as the heir to the Corleone family, following in the Don’s footsteps (Marlon Brando).
After Michael steps out of the bathroom, he walks up to the two men eating dinner and shoots them – but there is no score, just silence afterwards.
Once the studio saw Pacino at work, they backed down, and let Coppola finish with his vision.
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