Since the movie had lots and lots of roles, the cast was huge, and some incredibly famous and surprising names were considered. Robert Redford was considered for Michael Corleone, as well as Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman, and Tommy Lee Jones.
Anthony Perkins and Burt Reynolds both auditioned for Sonny, and Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, and even Elvis Presley auditioned for Tom Hagen… but Presley was way more interested in playing Vito Corleone. No shade on Elvis, but we’re kind of glad they went with Brando. Of all things, Sylvester Stallone auditioned for both Paulie and Carlo.
Nobody Ever Said Brando Was Easy to Work With
Marlon Brando had tons of eccentricities while filming, including an incredible love of food. And this happened to affect the filming of "The Godfather" in a big way.
While filming the scenes set in Little Italy, Brando became obsessed with something really specific: spicy squid with hot sauce. And when we say obsessed, we mean obsessed. He had to have some of it in his view at all times while filming the scenes, even during the shot when Vito leans over the body of his dead son Sonny. Off-camera, Brando is holding a container of the spicy squid.
The Actors who Missed Out
It's hard to picture anyone but Marlon Brando filling Don Vito Corleone's big shoes, but there were plenty of actors who almost got the role of a lifetime instead of Brando.
Laurence Olivier was the first to get offered the role, and surely would have delivered a memorable performance. Sadly, he was dealing with health problems at the time, and so turned it down. Frank Sinatra lobbied hard to be cast in the role, as did Orson Welles. In addition, famous names such as Ernest Borgnine, Burt Lancaster, Anthony Quinn, Edward G. Robinson, and plenty of others were considered.
Method Acting Madness
At one point in "The Godfather", a corrupt police officer punches Michael Corleone and breaks his jaw, which leads Michael to kill the cop along with a few others. It's a critical step on his path to leading the Corleone crime family, but there's an interesting detail.
After Michael's jaw breaks, he gets it wired shut to heal. Al Pacino acts superbly during these scenes, helped mostly by the fact that he got his jaw wired shut in real life, too. Pacino is an actor dedicated to his craft, but this takes preparing for a role to a whole new level.
Line!
Marlon Brando has plenty of eccentricities. One of them is he hates memorizing lines and required cue cards to be in sight at all times so he could get his lines right.
These cards were often hidden behind props and sometimes were even sewn into the clothing worn by Brando's castmates. The reason Brando didn't like to memorize lines is that he thought it ran counter to his method of acting. He wanted an off-the-cuff feeling for this powerful character, and a rehearsed feeling wouldn't give the character the savoir-faire and easy power Don Vito should have.