And it was the genius of Francis [Ford Coppola], who went to the wall to get that particular casting, which is very risky because Brando was supposedly box office poison at that time. He'd had a series of flops. Not many, but enough to convince Hollywood that he was not bankable anymore. And he was difficult, which is even worse than being not bankable. And these other guys were, who are they? You know, we want Robert Redford. The original casting that the studio wanted was Robert Redford as Michael, and Laurence Olivier as the Godfather. And Francis turned it down. 'What, you mean, you're going to turn down the chance to work with the greatest actor in the world, and the biggest star in the world?' 'Yes, he's not right for the film.' The studio gets mad, but eventually Francis, just by power of his... You know, he has a sort of Godfather-y, Jedi mind trick of being able to convince people that this is the best idea.
And the success of the film is testament to that. But if you think of, you know, it's hard, but imagine the film with Laurence Olivier and Robert Redford. They're not part of the same... The dynamic between them is very different. Laurence Olivier is a great actor, but he's a classically trained British actor playing an Italian mobster. 'Okay, I think I can.' But Robert Redford, who is a talented actor, and a star, and, 'Okay, I think, maybe, I hope.' And a lot of films are made on that hope. I hope it will work because on paper it looks great, they're bankable, great people. But it's all about the internal chemistry of it.
