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Mon 2 June 2025 20:40, UK
It’s hard to spot the most significant roles in the movie world unless they’re in hindsight. While some actors might have to fulfil roles in Hollywood for a quick paycheck, there are those rare performances that feel like a perfect marriage between the actor portraying the character and what the script demands out of them.
Even though it’s impossible to choose between Al Pacino‘s laundry list of classic performances, one managed to slip through his fingers.
Coming up in the 1970s, Pacino was fast becoming one of the biggest names in Hollywood. On the strength of playing the intimidating Michael Corleone in The Godfather series, Pacino landed another iconic role in Dog Day Afternoon, portraying the bank robber Sonny.
As Pacino quickly became one of the most in-demand superstars, writer Terrence Malick was earning critical acclaim for the greatest stories ever told in Hollywood. Making his first inroad to success with Badlands, Malick was on the verge of something even more incredible with Days of Heaven.
The Al Pacino role that never was
A twisted tale of romance, Days of Heaven starred Richard Gere in the lead role of Bill convincing the love of his life, Abby, to marry their boss, played by Sam Shepard, in an attempt to inherit his fortune once he passes away. While Gere may have gotten the lead role in the film, there was a good chance that Pacino could have gotten it.
Coming off his performance in movies like Dog Day Afternoon, this would have been yet another performance Pacino could have added to his list of classics before ultimately passing on it to work on And Justice For All alongside John Forsyth and Lee Strasberg. Looking back on turning it down, Pacino did feel that his judgement failed him, telling The Times: “Yeah, a long time ago Terry wanted me to be in a movie, and I always wished… There’s another one of my many mistakes. They’re in the museum of mistakes! All the scripts I rejected”.
Considering his acting portfolio at the time, the movie could have depicted Pacino in his element, playing an anti-hero once again. Even though Gere’s performance would go on to be one of the standouts of his career, Pacino’s time as a member of the Corleone family could have helped him in the role, especially when trying to balance the romantic side of his life with the more despicable parts of his character.
In a way, Days of Heaven feels like it was practically tailor-made for Pacino’s brand of slow-burn intensity. It is the kind of role where every glance carries weight and every silence says more than a monologue ever could. Gere brought a brooding elegance to the part, sure, but you can almost imagine Pacino walking those wheat fields, every word cracking with tension, every moment laced with that wiry unpredictability he had perfected by the mid-70s. It’s not just about who played the part, but more about how different the entire film might have felt. Malick’s visuals clashing with Pacino’s streetwise energy could have created something far rawer, maybe even more tragic. Instead, we got something dreamlike and ghostly. But you can’t help wondering what the more jagged version of that dream might’ve looked like.
Even though Pacino did admit to making a mistake when turning down the film, he didn’t appear to be broken up about the experience. Rather than get resentful about the movie’s success, Pacino applauded the work that everyone put into it, saying that he was a great admirer of Malick’s writing style and how the film was executed beautifully.
Instead of looking backwards to see what he could have done differently, Pacino preferred to see the past through rose-coloured glasses, explaining: “I feel that I’ve made what I would call mistakes. I picked the wrong movie, or I didn’t pursue a character, or I played somebody and made some choices… But everything you do is a part of you. And you get something from it. And I mean, the idea and excitement of being in these situations and places – they are more than just memories, they inform your life.”
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