Summary
- Many actors, including Al Pacino, turned down the role of Han Solo in Star Wars despite lucrative offers.
- Star Wars faced production issues and skepticism, but went on to change the movie industry forever.
- Alternate casting options for Star Wars include Al Pacino, Burt Reynolds, Kurt Russell, and Orson Welles.
Can you imagine anyone but Harrison Ford in the role of Han Solo? Well, one of the most beloved actors of all time turned down Star Wars despite being offered a boatload of money.
It can be easy to forget all these years later, but Star Wars wasn't exactly a hyped project when it was coming together back in the 1970s. Sure, George Lucas was coming off the surprising massive success of American Graffiti, but Star Wars is one of those infamous movies that nobody thought was going to work. It went over budget, had a script that the actors thought was laughable, and had so many production issues, almost everyone involved figured they had a box office flop on their hands. Of course, hindsight is 20/20, and Star Wars changed the moviemaking business forever. It also helped turn the little-known Harrison Ford into a megastar thanks to his portrayal of Han Solo. Ford wasn't the first choice to play the rougeish Solo as numerous actors read for the role, with one in particular being offered a huge bag of money to play the part.
Ryan Gosling’s Star Wars: Starfighter Adds A Horror Movie Icon As The Big Bad
A central figure in modern horror cinema will be playing the villain in Ryan Gosling’s Star Wars: Starfighter.
While promoting his new film The Ritual, Al Pacino told Entertainment Weekly that he simply didn't get Star Wars. Much has been made of him deciding not to take the role, but he opened up a bit further than he has in the past. "So I loved [Francis Ford Coppola, Brian De Palma, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese & George Lucas's] work, but I was doing a show on Broadway at the time, and they handed me this script, and I thought, 'I don't understand,'" Pacino explained. Pacino wasn't the only actor to be a bit dumbfounded by the Star Wars script.
"I looked at this thing and I sent it to Charlie Loughton, my friend and mentor, actually. I said, 'What do you make of this?' He was pretty wise, and he said, 'I don't get it, Al. I dunno. I don't get it.' I said, 'Well, I don't either; what are we going to do? They offered me a fortune, but I don't know. No, I can't play something if I don't speak the language.'"
Imagine A World Where Al Pacino Played Han Solo In Star Wars Instead Of Harrison Ford
Al Pacino isn't alone in turning down Han Solo, as Burt Reynolds famously also declined to take the role. That being said, Pacino is a higher caliber of actor than Reynolds, as great as he was. At the time, Pacino was coming off the first two Godfather films, Serpico, and Dog Day Afternoon. The man was nominated for an Oscar in the four years leading up to Star Wars' 1977 release. Had 20th Century Fox and Lucasfilm actually managed to nab Pacino for Han Solo, he would've been front and center in the marketing blitz for the film. It realistically could've been distracting seeing such a famous and beloved actor in a galaxy far, far away.
Of course, the casting what-ifs for Star Wars are endless. Kurt Russell and Robert Englund read for Luke Skywalker while Karen Allen and Amy Irving read for Leia Organa. George Lucas considered casting Orson Welles himself for Darth Vader's voice instead of James Earl Jones. The alternate casting choices are an interesting thought experiment, no doubt, but everything worked out for Lucas and Fox in the end. Star Wars became the biggest hit of 1977, and Hollywood was simply never the same.
Source: Entertainment Weekly