The Godfather Podcast: Episode 9 - “A runt will not play Michael.”
While Francis Ford Coppola had won the hard fought battle to cast Marlon Brando as Don Corleone, the casting of Michael would prove to be an all-out slugfest - nearly resulting in the firing of Coppola.
Francis knew he wanted Al Pacino to play Michael from day one, but at the timePacino was a relatively unknown actor with little experience and even less name recognition.
The Paramount studio execs, and studio head Robert Evans in particular, instead that the role of Michael go to an A-List star like Robert Redford, Ryan O’Neil or Warren Beatty. Even Jack Nicolson and Dustin Hoffman were considered. In all, there were at least 40 “Michaels” under consideration for the role. Anyone but “that midget” Pacino, as Robert Evans referred to him.
“Absolutely not,” Evans told Coppola. “A runt will not play Michael!”
But just like with Brando, Coppola was tenacious and relentless…
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