Han Solo is one of Star Wars most iconic characters. He is part of cinema history, forming one of the key cast of the saga and immortalised on film by Harrison Ford. But this week, one Hollywood A-Lister had a shocking revelation: the galaxy could have looked much different if he had accepted the part.
As reported by Variety, veteran actor Al Pacino was speaking at the 92nd St Y in New York City this week when he made the shocking claim.
Pacino, 82, is Hollywood royalty with starring turns in The Godfather (1972), The Godfather Part II (1974), Scarface (1984), Heat (1995) and as recently as 2019’s The Irishman.
Speaking at the event, he said:
“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.
“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. I gave Harrison Ford a career.”
Al Pacino.
It’s a bold claim but one that Pacino has the filmography to back up. At the time of Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope‘s development, Pacino star was firmly on the rise, with a string of critical and commercial hits year after year. The Godfather (1972), Serpico (1973), The Godfather Part II (1974) and Dog Day Afternoon (1975) would have established the now Academy Award-winning actor as an impressive talent.
No doubt, a part like Han Solo could have been Pacino’s to lose. And as for his claim about giving Harrison Ford his career? There could be some truth to that too. There’s little doubt that the part of Solo is one of the defining roles of Ford’s career, sitting firmly alongside Indiana Jones as one of the cinematic icons the actor brought to vivid life.
Credit: Lucasfilm
Before his casting in Star Wars, Ford had previously worked with Lucas on his 1973 coming-of-age movie, American Graffiti. But while he had also worked with Francis Ford Coppola on his movies The Conversation (1974) and had a string of smaller roles in TV, Ford had also turned to professional carpentry due to his acting career faltering somewhat.
His career began to skyrocket only post-Star Wars, firming up his leading man status with Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981. The rest is, as they say, history: but could Al Pacino have been the man to make it happen? It’s plausible.
One thing’s for certain: the part of Han Solo would certainly have been very different had method actor Pacino taken it.
Credit: Lucasfilm
