Al Pacino Reveals He Turned Down an Iconic Star Wars Role

Al Pacino is an Oscar-winning actor known for an array of films including The Godfather, Dog Day Afternoon, Scent of a Women, The Irishman, and much more. The iconic actor took part in a talk this week at The 92nd Street Y, New York (via Variety) and revealed he had the opportunity to play one of the most famous roles in history: Han Solo in Star Wars. By the time Star Wars hit theaters, Pacino had already been nominated for four Oscars, so it’s no surprise he was approached. However, the actor wasn’t interested, and now he’s crediting himself for helping to boost the career of Harrison Ford.  

“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 shared. “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.”

What’s Next For Harrison Ford?

While Pacino may have given Harrison Ford a leg up by turning down Star Wars, Ford is still thriving all these years later. The actor is about to reprise his role as Indiana Jones for the first time since 2008 in the upcoming fifth installment, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. The new film is being helmed by James Mangold who is best known for directing big movies such as Walk the Line, Logan, and Ford v Ferrari. Recently, Mangold had a chat with The Hollywood Reporter and talked about working with Ford. Unsurprisingly, the director had nothing but praise for the legendary star.

“There’s so much more than just the truth of the performance but also tailoring it to the frame and knowing what’s going to work,” Mangold explained. “What I thought was most refreshing was – and I can’t say I found this surprising because his body of work represents this so fully – is you sense he’s working every moment to undermine the bulls**t of the scene. He looks for ways to make it more like life, mess up the false moments and to take the piss out of his own character. He’s got this great sense of how to be a hero and how to undermine the tropes of heroism at the same time.”  

In addition to playing Indiana Jones again, Ford will soon be making his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut as Thaddeus Ross. Ford’s first appearance will be in Captain America: New World Order. The role was originally played by William Hurt in The Incredibly Hulk, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and Black Widow. Sadly, Hurt passed away last year. 

Can you picture Al Pacino as Han Solo? Tell us in the comments!