It's hard to imagine anybody but Harrison Ford playing Han Solo (which is probably why people didn't take to Alden Ehrenreich so easily). However, there was a time when Star Wars was on the hunt for its Han and the role was actually offered to Al Pacino.
Although it has always been an awesome role, Al Pacino clearly didn't think it was a good fit. The screen legend revealed why he turned down Star Wars and even pointed out that he was responsible for kickstarting Ford's career.
“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 told Variety.
“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,” he added.
Pacino then took credit for the success of the actor who eventually landed the job. “I gave Harrison Ford a career,” he said.
We're loving how Al Pacino is so casual about losing a job that could have turned him into a major star. On the other hand, he didn't do too badly himself after major roles in The Godfather, Dog Day Afternoon, and Serpico. With that in mind, most fans would probably agree that he did the right thing by turning down Star Wars and giving Harrison Ford a career.
Star Wars may have started out as a strange film in 1977 but it has turned into a huge media franchise since then. In addition to that, Harrison Ford has appeared in all three of the original trilogy films and two of the sequel trilogy movies.
He has also gone on to join other media franchises like Indiana Jones and will return as the treasure-hunting professor in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny which premieres on June 30, 2023.
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