Al Pacino recalls turning down ‘Star Wars' role, reveals why he said no
Academy Award winner Al Pacino recently opened up about turning down a role in Star Wars and explained why he was hesitant to join the now-iconic franchise.
'I said, 'I think I'm in the mood to make Harrison Ford a career,'' Pacino joked, recalling a visit to the San Francisco headquarters of American Zoetrope—the production company founded by Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas—according to Deadline.
'They were making this in the late '60s. They were real idealists coming into the '70s, with great films being made all over the world,' Pacino said. 'It was a wonderful place—I actually visited the building before I did The Godfather with them.'
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As for why he passed on Star Wars, Pacino admitted the script didn't click with him.
'I loved their work, but I was doing a Broadway show at the time, and they handed me this script. I didn't understand it. I thought I must be out of space myself,' he said. 'So I sent it to my friend and mentor, Charlie Loughton. I asked, 'What do you make of this?' He was pretty wise and said, 'I don't get it, Al. I don't know.' And I said, 'Well, I don't either—what are we going to do?' They offered me a fortune, but I just couldn't do it. I can't play something if I don't speak the language.'
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Pacino to Star in Hostage Thriller 'Dead Man's Wire'
Meanwhile, Pacino is set to headline the upcoming hostage thriller Dead Man's Wire, directed by Academy Award nominee Gus Van Sant.
According to Deadline, the film is based on the true story of a harrowing
1977 hostage situation
that gripped the world. The screenplay, written by Austin Kolodney, features a star-studded cast including Bill Skarsgård, Dacre Montgomery, Myha'la, Cary Elwes, and Colman Domingo.
The plot centers on events from February 8, 1977, when Anthony G. 'Tony' Kiritsis, a 44-year-old man, stormed into the office of Richard O. Hall, president of Meridian Mortgage Company, and took him hostage.
Wielding a sawed-off shotgun rigged to his own neck with a 'dead man's wire,' Tony demanded $5 million, immunity from prosecution, and a personal apology from the Hall family, whom he accused of cheating him out of money.
Van Sant—best known for Good Will Hunting and Milk—will bring the tense standoff to the screen in what will be his first collaboration with Pacino.
Pacino, who won the Academy Award for Best Actor for Scent of a Woman, was last seen in Knox Goes Away.
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