For all the "The Godfather's" bloody violence and volatile family drama, you might expect star Al Pacino to need therapy — and he did. But it wasn't the legendary mafia film's grim themes that sent him to the shrink, and the obvious star of the show is Al Pacino.
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00For all the Godfather's bloody violence and volatile family drama, you might expect star
00:04Al Pacino to need therapy, and he did. But it wasn't the legendary mafia film's grim
00:09themes that sent him to the shrink. And the obvious star of the show is Al Pacino. The
00:13transformation of Michael Corleone from straight-shooting decorated soldier just back from fighting
00:17in World War II to the ruthless mafioso his father never wanted him to be is chilling,
00:22and definitely deserves to be counted among the greatest roles in cinematic history.
00:26In five years, the Corleone family is going to be completely legitimate. Trust me. That's
00:33all I can tell you about my business."
00:35Apparently, the dramatic role also changed Al Pacino so much that, as he told The Hollywood
00:40Reporter's Awards Chatter podcast, the actor needed therapy after playing it. But it wasn't
00:44for the reason you're probably thinking. It's not like he got too much into the mind of
00:48a cutthroat mafia boss, lost his grip on reality, and had to psychoanalyze his way back down
00:52to Earth. It wasn't the role that got to Al Pacino, but rather the real world after
00:56the movie made him an instant celebrity.
00:58The Godfather wasn't his first film, but it was his big break. And all of a sudden, he
01:02found himself on the receiving end of an immense amount of attention. And the fame wasn't easy
01:06to get used to. He basically had full creative control over his career after the movie came
01:10out, but that control came at a price. He explained,
01:13"...it was a big thing to get used to. I remember actor Lee Strasberg saying to me,
01:18Darling, you simply have to adjust. And you simply do, but it's not so simple."
01:22Indeed, the adjustment process was easier said than done, and the effects of that fame
01:26would end up lasting decades. He admitted, quote,
01:28"...I had therapy five days a week for 25 years."
01:31And he wasn't kidding. Al Pacino was so busy with therapy and adjusting that he only did
01:35five movies total in the 1980s. Of course, one of those was his other legendary gangster
01:40flick, Scarface, so no complaining here. It's about quality, not quantity, right?
01:45"...Say hello to my little friend!"
01:50He explained,
01:51"...I just wanted to move away from the pace of the whole thing, and it was good for me."
01:54He also noted he liked staying out of the limelight until he was forced to jump back
01:58in, admitting, quote,
01:59"...I enjoyed it. But then, as happens, the money runs out."
02:02"...Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in."
02:07As Pacino told The Hollywood Reporter, he didn't even want the role of Michael Corleone
02:11He wanted to play Sonny, though that role went to James Caan. And funnily enough, everyone
02:16else involved with the movie except director Francis Ford Coppola didn't want him on the
02:19cast at all. The studio only agreed to let him play the role of Michael after he'd done
02:23three auditions. Even after he got the role, his position on the cast was shaky.
02:28According to The Washington Post, Paramount execs had been eyeing actors like Robert Redford
02:31and Ryan O'Neal for the part, and once shooting began, they almost started to regret their
02:35decision. They tried to fire Pacino three times, calling his performance anemic. However,
02:40despite his and their misgivings, Pacino is Pacino, and he knew what he was doing. He
02:45explained,
02:46"...I was trying to create a character who you don't know where you're at with him. I
02:49knew it was a tough part to pull off. Michael's so insular, so private."
02:53Then they shot the scene where Michael offs his father's rival Virgil Sollozzo and the
02:56crooked cop Mark McCluskey, and everyone on set knew they had the right man in the role.
03:01Francis Ford Coppola gushed,
03:02"...His intelligence is what I note at first. He knows how to use his gifts. He uses what
03:06he has, this striking magnetic quality, this smoldering ambience."