Burt Reynolds Was Almost Michael Corleone in ‘The Godfather’
Although it now seems unfathomable that anyone but Pacino could play Michael, the notion of Reynolds playing the elder Corleone son actually made a lot of sense at the time of The Godfather’s release. Pacino was an unknown stage actor at the time, and although he had shown promise onscreen with his role in the drama film The Panic in Needle Park, The Godfather was the first film that truly established him as a movie star. Reynolds wasn’t the only big name actor that nearly earned the role; James Caan, Dustin Hoffman, Martin Sheen, Dean Stockwell, Jack Nicholson, and Ryan O’Neal were also considered at various points during the film’s production to take on the role.
Reynolds had already attracted a significant following due to his success on television shows such as Gunsmoke and Hawk, but The Godfather certainly would have changed the direction of his career. However, Reynolds thankfully didn’t miss out on the opportunity to star in a great drama film in 1972. The same year of The Godfather’s release, Reynolds delivered an unforgettable performance in John Boorman’s survival thriller Deliverance. There was a brief moment when it appeared like he may have been one of the foremost “serious actors” of his generations alongside Pacino, Cann, and Duvall.
However, Reynolds’s filmography took a different direction in 1977 when he starred in the comedy blockbuster hit Smokey and the Bandit. Released the same weekend as Star Wars, Smokey and the Bandit proved that Reynolds was better suited for comedy than anything else. Although he would occasionally appear in action-centric films in the next decade of his career, Reynolds had established himself as much more of a traditional “movie star” than someone like Pacino. That being said, The Godfather still became a massive box office sensation. It’s easily forgotten that upon its initial debut, the film became the highest-grossing film of all-time.
Pacino needed a role like Michael Corleone in The Godfather to prove to the world what a great actor he could be — it would be unfortunate if he spent his entire career confined to a small New York theater. Although starring in The Godfather would have boosted Reynolds’ career, he was still able to reach a significant audience due to his unparalleled charisma. Reynolds’ endearing nature was much more appreciated among general audiences in populist fare than any of Pacino’s roles ever were. Brando may not have been happy about it, but Reynolds would have been a star either.
