Al Pacino reflects on 'The Godfather' fame 50 years later: 'Hard for me to cope with'
09.03.2022 - 17:29
/ foxnews.com
Al Pacino is opening up about his breakthrough role in "The Godfather" 50 years since its release. Pacino, now 81, rocketed to stardom after his Oscar-nominated performance in the 1972 mafia film, a role he landed after having participated in just one movie prior, 1971's "The Panic in Needle Park." He was, however, a rising star in New York theater at the time and a recipient of a Tony award. Although he will always be known as the legend who played Michael Corleone, Pacino said when director Francis Ford Coppola approached him about taking on for the role, he didn't take it seriously.
"It just seemed so outrageous. Here I am, talking to somebody who I think is flipped out. I said, what train am I on? OK.
Humor the guy. And he wanted me to do Michael. I thought, OK, I’ll go along with this.
I said, yes, Francis, good. You know how they talk to you when you’re slipping? They say, ‘Yes! Of course! Yes!’ But he wasn’t. It was the truth.
And then I was given the part," Pacino said in an interview with The New York Times. Al Pacino in "The Godfather: Part III," which was originally released in 1990. (Paramount) "The Godfather" premiered in New York on March 15, 1972.
All this time later, it's still the role Pacino's most known for. But he admits his entry into superstardom isn't what he expected nor wanted. "It’s hard to explain in today’s world — to explain who I was at that time and the bolt of lightning that it was," Pacino said.
"I felt like, all of a sudden, some veil was lifted and all eyes were on me. Of course, they were on others in the film. But ‘The Godfather’ gave me a new identity that was hard for me to cope with." Although it wasn't apparent during the making of the "The Godfather" just how big the film would
.