STAR WARS: Al Pacino Jokes That He "Gave Harrison Ford A Career" By Turning Down Han Solo Role

STAR WARS: Al Pacino Jokes That He "Gave Harrison Ford A Career" By Turning Down Han Solo Role

It's common knowledge that Al Pacino was originally offered the role of Han Solo in Star Wars, and the legendary actor has now elaborated in his reasons for turning it down...

By MarkCassidy - Apr 22, 2023 08:04 AM EST
Filed Under: Star Wars
Source: Via SFF Gazette

I know it was you, Greedo. You broke my heart..."

Before he shot to fame playing Michael Corleone in The Godfather, Al Pacino was offered the role of Han Solo in Star Wars.

The legendary actor has previously spoken about his reasons for passing on taking a trip to the Galaxy Far, Far Away, and during a talk at The 92nd Street Y, New York (via Variety) earlier this week, he elaborated on his decision - throwing in a little joke about the man who did end up playing the iconic space-smuggler.

“Well, I turned down Star Wars. When I first came up, I was the new kid on the block, you know what happens when you first become famous. It’s like, ‘Give it to Al.’ They’d give me Queen Elizabeth to play,” Pacino said. “They gave me a script called ‘ Star Wars.… They offered me so much money. I don’t understand it. I read it. … So I said I couldn’t do it. I gave Harrison Ford a career.”

It really is difficult to imagine anyone but Ford playing Solo in the original trilogy now, but we can't help but wonder what Pacino's take on the character might have been like.

Han was killed-off in The Force Awakens, but Alden Ehrenreich played a younger version in Solo: A Star Wars Story. Unfortunately, the movie didn't do well enough at the box office to justify a sequel, so we may have seen the last of everyone's favourite scruffy-lookin' nerf-herder in the Star Wars franchise.

Do you think Al Pacino would have made a good Han Solo? Drop us a comment down below.

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Dredd97
Dredd97 - 4/22/2023, 8:23 AM
Pacino as Solo would've been such a weird vibe lol great actor, maybe the greatest ever, but not for Han Solo
tmp3
tmp3 - 4/22/2023, 8:30 AM
@Dredd97 - his run in the 70's is one of the greatest of all time. him doing this would have gotten in the way of that, so it was a win-win for everyone involved since it gave ford a huge career boost too.
what's crazy is that nicholson was offered michael corleone, but he clearly had the good sense to say no. that's insane lol
Dredd97
Dredd97 - 4/22/2023, 8:31 AM
@tmp3 - oh for sure. the man was unstoppable. shame he made some bad choices in the 80s though.
haha I still can't believe that. or even Redford who the studio liked for Michael. he's not even remotely Italian lol
tmp3
tmp3 - 4/22/2023, 8:36 AM
@Dredd97 - i saw cruising a few weeks back, what a strange misfire of a movie. can't believe it's from friedkin. 80's is a weird decade because it's sandwiched by 2 incredible decades for him. 90's had heat, the insider, glengary, carlito's way, even dick tracy is fun if you smoke the right stuff lol.
Dredd97
Dredd97 - 4/22/2023, 1:06 PM
@tmp3 - haha I ironically love Dick Tracy. cbms should be more stylized and popping with color.
but yeah cruising was really odd...and even at the end implying he may have been a killer too. not great!
SauronthePower
SauronthePower - 4/22/2023, 10:07 PM
@tmp3 - I’m not sure about that

Star Wars would’ve endangered Dog Day Afternoon, And Justice For All, and possibly Scarface which surely would’ve destroyed that streak but Scarface was late enough into that run that it may have been able to coexist on his schedule. His choices post-Heat have been absolutely abysmal save for ‘Danny Collins,’ which was actually a really good, low-intensity watch (DeNiro in ‘The Intern’ carries a VERY similar vibe). Thankfully Uncle Al has gotten a bit of a resurgence thanks to Tarantino and Scorcese the past couple of years. Really should be MCU’s Mephisto far moreso than Baron Cohen. The role is almoat tailored for him
SauronthePower
SauronthePower - 4/22/2023, 10:09 PM
@tmp3 - Revolution wasn’t much better
tmp3
tmp3 - 4/22/2023, 10:35 PM
@SauronthePower - idk, the insider was post-heat and i loved it. His HBO movies weren't bad, if a bit pedestrian. Cohen might just go full ham as Mephisto, but he might pull something special out.
De Niro's next 2 projects sound pretty good though - killers of the flower moon and wise guys
Feralwookiee
Feralwookiee - 4/22/2023, 8:29 AM
Francis Ford Coppola was Lucas' mentor and friend, so I guess it would make sense because they ran in the same circles.

While it would've been nice to see a Han Solo that's ALWAYS SCREAMING, surely this kiddie science fiction stuff was beneath an actor with such integrity.

🤣
Origame
Origame - 4/22/2023, 8:44 AM
@Feralwookiee - in fairness, the clip you're playing was bad on purpose. After this it's shown he and Adam Sandler are watching this video and pachino tells him "no one can ever see this".
dragon316
dragon316 - 4/22/2023, 8:50 AM
@Feralwookiee - I love that to be he doesn’t do more comedy’s
Feralwookiee
Feralwookiee - 4/22/2023, 12:38 PM
@Origame - Of course.
But, being in an Adam Sandler movie, meta or not, knocks you down a few notches imo. 😝
Origame
Origame - 4/22/2023, 12:46 PM
@Feralwookiee - just saying. There are more accidentally bad moments from him in that movie. Remember, his arc in that movie was to sleep with girl Adam Sandler.
MaxPaint
MaxPaint - 4/22/2023, 8:30 AM
The G.O.A.T.
CoHost
CoHost - 4/22/2023, 8:31 AM
Scarface doesn't get enough credit but it's one of the best films ever made.
CAPTAINPINKEYE
CAPTAINPINKEYE - 4/22/2023, 8:38 AM
@CoHost - Depends on the age group. Anybody over 40 most likely knows Scarface off by heart. I myself as watch that film easily 30 times in my lifetime.
Tpo81
Tpo81 - 4/22/2023, 8:44 AM
He looked like a completely different person when he was younger. I think he's had a few surgeries or just age completely changed him. But it would've been weird seeing him come back to the role 30 plus years later like Ford did.
Origame
Origame - 4/22/2023, 8:46 AM
Considering Ford has been trying to get out of the franchise since empire, I'm sure he's so grateful to al for that.
dragon316
dragon316 - 4/22/2023, 8:50 AM
Glad he did pass it to Harrison for be weird
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 4/22/2023, 8:50 AM
Kinda wanna see it now. Although I'm pretty sure there's already a deepfake out there with Pacino as Han
HAILHYDRA
HAILHYDRA - 4/22/2023, 8:51 AM
So in some alternate universe, Pacino is the one having to swat away annoying questions about whether or not he was a force ghost in TROS.
GeneralZod
GeneralZod - 4/22/2023, 9:20 AM
Can you imagine Pacino as Han? "[frick] GREEDO AND [frick] JABBA THE [frick]ING HUT! I BURY THOSE COCKROACHES!"
SauronthePower
SauronthePower - 4/22/2023, 10:16 PM
@GeneralZod - try to imagine the whole ‘Han shot first’ controversy with Al wielding that M-16A1
marvel72
marvel72 - 4/22/2023, 9:41 AM
Kurt Russell would have been my choice, if Harrison Ford didn't get the role.
Blergh
Blergh - 4/22/2023, 9:41 AM
I love Pacino but it's hard to imagine someone else in that role other than Ford.
Typhoon20
Typhoon20 - 4/22/2023, 11:23 AM
Young Al Pacino as Michael Corleone is the most mesmerizing swag I have seen of any performance in the history of cinema.
I also consider Michael Corleone and his performance as the best character of all time. MF was handsome AF young and his calm, collected acting as Michael Corleone was perfection. I've never watched a performance of any actor/character where I was stressed/mesmerized while said actor/character not uttering a single word. That scene with his wife having an abortion, I've never watched any scene in any movie and felt more uncomfortable, fear, tension than that scene. It didn't even feel like I was watching a movie, felt like I was watching a real life couple experience something tragic and real.

Harrison Ford was perfect casting. Though I would have LOVED to see young handsome Al Pacino in that role, he would have killed it as well. He was just utterly the most mesmerizing actor during that period. Even if Scarface wasn't as well liked by critics as Godfather 1&2, his performance there was also insanely captivating. The type of performance you miss nowadays. We have great actors these days, but not as many electrifying ones compared to older generations.
SauronthePower
SauronthePower - 4/22/2023, 10:19 PM
@Typhoon20 - the stare into the horizon that closes Part II, culminating everything that led to his ascent and descent to that moment (re: Fredo)) is absolutely otherworldly haunting.
JonC
JonC - 4/24/2023, 3:52 PM
i can't wait for someone to replace pacino with an ai/deepfake in various star wars scenes and post it online....
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