In a galaxy far, far away (okay, Hollywood), Al Pacino has revealed that he was this close to becoming the galaxy’s coolest smuggler, Han Solo. But spoiler alert: it didn’t happen. Why? Because the Oscar-winning Godfather legend decided to pass on the gig—and we just got the inside scoop, straight from his new memoir, “Sonny Boy.”
Now, picture this: It’s 1972. Al’s fresh off The Godfather, looking like a mobster king, and Hollywood’s rolling out the red carpet, practically begging him to star in, well… everything. Fast forward to 1977: the Star Wars universe was about to blast off with lightsabers, Death Stars, and one very sassy Wookiee.
Turns out, the galaxy almost had Pacino behind the wheel of the Millennium Falcon. Yup, you read that right. But instead of Pacino’s “Hoo-ah!” in space, we got Harrison Ford’s smirk. So what happened? Al put it bluntly: “They offered me Han Solo. But the script? I couldn’t understand a word of it.”
“I was still recovering from The Godfather. Everywhere I went, it was like, ‘Oh hey, look, there’s Michael Corleone!’ It got so bad, I was thinking of walking around with a fake mustache just to blend in,” Pacino reminisced. “They wanted me to be Han Solo. But I thought, ‘You just made me a mob boss. Now you want me flying spaceships and shooting laser guns?’ It’s like asking a fish to ride a bicycle.”
Of course, Pacino didn’t make this decision lightly. He consulted with his trusty acting coach, Charlie—because, apparently, even Al Pacino gets confused. “I gave the script to Charlie. I said, ‘Charlie, what the heck is a Wookiee?’ Charlie gets back to me like, ‘Al, buddy… I have no idea what’s going on here.’ And that was that.”
In hindsight, Pacino has no regrets. “Han Solo was cool, but let’s be real: Could I have done that whole ‘I love you / I know’ thing without cracking up? Doubt it.”
The Godfather in space just wasn’t meant to be. Somewhere out there, Harrison Ford is probably raising a glass to Al for saying no, and the rest is Star Wars history.
In the words of Pacino himself: “I may have skipped Star Wars, but hey… at least I didn’t have to fight a guy in a furry costume.”
