Actor Al Pacino had many important roles in his stage career, but he also constantly claims that his colleague Harrison Ford owes him his career as a Hollywood star.
Hollywood artists sustain themselves thanks to the success of the work they do, and that is achieved thanks to the combination of the right role, the right story, and the right interpretation. Sometimes those things get phagocytosed by third parties, and that's why Al Pacino says all the time that Harrison Ford owes him his career.
Pacino is two years older than Ford and had great success in the movies, which made him famous, five years earlier. The Godfather was released in 1972 and The Interpreter by Michael Corleone ended up being the sensation of cinema, the most sought-after by everyone.
Instead, Harrison took the world into his own hands after his performance as Han Solo in Star Wars, which was later called Episode IV: A New Hope released in 1977. His performance caught the attention of the globe and added a new heartthrob to the world of show business.
“Harrison Ford really owes his career to me,” Al once said at a press conference and it is something that, over time, he maintained and repeated, each time with less importance, but in a way it is a reality.
“I came from doing The Godfather, I was like the new kid in the office and you know what it's like when you become famous... Everyone says: 'Give it to him,'” he developed that time and added; “They would have even offered me to play Queen Elizabeth at that time. They didn't care whether or not he was right for the role, and not even whether or not he could act.”
And the revelation was in an offer that Pacino was able to reject, and that opened the way for Ford. “At that time, I was offered a script for a project called Star Wars and they offered me a lot of money to play Han Solo. I read the story, but I didn't understand it and I rejected it. For this reason, Harrison Ford owes me his career,” he explained.
In any case, it is not the first time nor the only actor that he boasts of, “giving them the opportunity of their lives” thanks to the roles that he rejected. Al also once said that thanks to him saying no to playing Jon McClane in Die Hard, Bruce Willis started his career.
Whether willingly or unwillingly, Al Pacino has many of those stories in which the actors and actresses of the moment allow new artists to shine who are waiting for their chance and perfect characters to make the leap.
