We all know The Godfather today. It's one of the highest-acclaimed and most beloved films ever made, and a striking example of cinema at its finest. But clearly it wasn't always this way.
In a new book called Sonny Boy (thanks, The Guardian), Al Pacino talked a little about his time on set making The Godfather and how it didn't exactly go as planned. He notes how he thought he wasn't performing well enough and feared that he would be fired from the role, something he really believed was going to happen when he injured his foot and thought it was his saving grace to exit the movie.
Pacino revealed that he had a conversation with director Francis Ford Coppola who told him he wasn't "cutting it" and that the only saving grace was the famed scene where Michael Corleone takes revenge on Sollozzo and McCluskey.
"I had twisted my ankle so badly that I couldn't move. Everyone on the crew had crowded around me. They were trying to lift me up, asking me: Was my ankle broken? Could I walk? I didn't know.
"I lay there thinking, this is a miracle. Oh God, you're saving me. I don't have to do this picture any more. I was shocked by the feeling of relief that passed over me. Showing up for work every day, feeling unwanted, feeling like an underling, was an oppressive experience, and this injury could be my release from that prison. At least now they could fire me, recast another actor as Michael, and not lose every dime they'd already put into the picture.
"Because of that scene I just performed, they kept me in the film. So I didn't get fired from 'The Godfather,' I did have a plan, a direction that I really believed was the way to go with this character. And I was certain that Francis felt the same way."
Thankfully Pacino wasn't fired because The Godfather led to the creation of The Godfather Part II, where Pacino took centre stage and gave a timeless performance that to this day stands out.