During An Evening with Al Pacino this last weekend in London, the actor talked about how the role of Han Solo in Star Wars was his "for the taking" but he didn't take it because "I didn't understand the script".
Which certainly makes for an interesting 'what if'. Not sure what was so complicated about the script though…
The role of course went to Harrison Ford which kick started his career. Ford wasn't always George Lucas's first choice as he didn't want to work with someone he'd worked with previously (the two collaborated on American Graffiti) and he had Jack Nicholson, Chevy Chase and Bill Murray down as other potential Solos.
Anyone else think Bill Murray would have been an awesome Han Solo?
However, had Pacino taken on the character he may have struggled with the franchise role it would become, as he explained during the evening that he found The Godfather trilogy (in which he played Michael Corleone) a "long, awful, tiring story".
Pacino also revealed during the evening that he was offered both the Marlon Brando and Martin Sheen roles in Apocalypse Now, Dustin Hoffman’s Lenny Bruce in Lenny and Richard Gere's role in Pretty Woman.