5 Times Al Pacino and Robert De Niro Almost Played Each Other's Roles

Robert De Niro Could Have Played Michael Corleone, the Role Al Pacino Made Iconic in The Godfather

Al Pacino as Michael Corleone

Sean Levy writes in the excellent biography De Niro: A Life that Francis Ford Coppola considered “a number of names for every key role” in 1972’s The Godfather – including De Niro and Pacino. Though the role of Michael Corleone went to Pacino, Coppola was impressed enough with De Niro to consider him for the role of Michael’s brother, Sonny, which ultimately went to James Caan.

So Pacino and De Niro’t get to play brothers — but they did play father and son when De Niro won the part of Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II, taking on the younger version of Marlon Brando’s Godfather.

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