Al Pacino’s Shocking Reason for Rejecting Han Solo Role in Star Wars Revealed!

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Prior to the iconic “Hoo-ah,” there was almost a Han Solo role for Al Pacino. In his 2024 memoir, titled “Sonny Boy,” the actor revealed that he was given the opportunity to play Han Solo in “Star Wars” following his Oscar-nominated performance in “The Godfather” of 1972. However, Pacino declined the part of the space pirate smuggler as he found George Lucas’ script lacking and couldn’t see how he could make anything from it. This role ultimately catapulted Harrison Ford to stardom – an unknown actor who had portrayed Bob Falfa in “American Graffiti,” a film directed by Lucas and produced by Pacino’s “Godfather” director, Francis Ford Coppola. In the end, “Star Wars” broke all box office records when it premiered in 1977.

Pacino playfully commented to EW about turning down Star Wars, saying, “I quipped that I was considering making a career out of Harrison Ford instead.” He reminisced about his ties to the New Hollywood’s “Movie Brats,” such as Steven Spielberg (of Jaws fame), Martin Scorsese (known for Taxi Driver), and Coppola and Lucas, who jointly established American Zoetrope, the production company behind The Godfather and American Graffiti.

In the late 1960s, they were creating this. They were true idealists, moving into the 1970s with fantastic films across the world. It was an amazing environment that I had a glimpse of when I visited [the Sentinel Building]. Later, before working on The Godfather with them, Pacino said, “I loved their work, but at the time, I didn’t comprehend this script they gave me.

The script for Star Wars contained dialogue such as this from Han Solo, the arrogant pilot of the Millennium Falcon: “This is the ship that completed the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs. I’ve outrun not just regular starships, but massive Corellian ships.

Pacino quipped, “[I wondered], Am I running out of space here myself,” but upon examining it, he sent it to Charlie Laughton, his friend and mentor. He asked him, ‘What do you make of this?’ Laughton, being quite insightful, replied, ‘I’m not sure, Al. I don’t understand it.’ Pacino replied, ‘Neither do I; what should we do? They offered me a fortune, but I can’t play something if I don’t speak the language.’

Ford was well-known for landing the part, having previously encountered or tried out alongside actors such as John Travolta from “Saturday Night Fever,” Sylvester Stallone in “Rocky,” Nick Nolte in “The Deep,” Burt Reynolds in “Deliverance,” Christopher Walken in “Annie Hall,” Richard Dreyfuss in “Jaws,” Kurt Russell in “The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes,” and Pacino’s “Godfather” series co-stars James Caan and Robert De Niro.

In a 2006 interview with Premiere Magazine, Star Wars casting director Dianne Crittenden stated that anyone who was on the rise at that time was invited. She mentioned that one day they had Nick Nolte, Richard Dreyfuss, and John Travolta. There were also discussions about Robert De Niro. Instead of auditioning them first, they invited these actors to meet George.

In the Godfather trilogy directed by Coppola, released from 1972 to 1990, Pacino portrayed Michael Corleone. Meanwhile, Ford’s triumph in Star Wars led to numerous sequels and landed him the lead role in the Indiana Jones series created by Lucasfilm. Later, Pacino garnered an Oscar for his performance in 1992’s Scent of a Woman, which is also famous for the phrase “Hoo-ah!

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2025-06-08 22:43