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Two of the most iconic actors of their generation, Robert De Niro and Al Pacino have been friends for over half a century. Although their first movie together was Francis Ford Coppola's 1974 hit The Godfather Part II, they were not in the same scenes since the timelines of their characters did not intersect.
It was not until more than halfway through 1995's Heat that De Niro and Pacino shared the same screen even though it was only for a few minutes. Righteous Kill in 2008 gave them more than a few scenes together.
Robert De Niro, his longtime collaborator, Martin Scorsese, and Al Pacino collaborated on the 2019 film The Irishman. During a video interview with GQ on November 20, 2019, Pacino revealed that he almost worked with De Niro on another hit movie.
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"We almost did 'Glengarry Glen Ross' together. He [De Niro] was going to play the Levene role, and we were really into it. We were going to do it," Al Pacino said.
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Directed by Justin Foley, Glengarry Glen Ross is a 1992 black comedy drama film. David Mamet wrote the script based on his eponymous Pulitzer Prize-winning play. The role Pacino referenced in the GQ interview was of Sheldon Levene, who was portrayed by Jack Lemmon in the film.
In the same interview, Pacino also revealed that they were going to work together in other movies such as 1900 and The Pope of Greenwich Village. While De Niro appeared in 1900, neither of them appeared in The Pope of Greenwich Village.
Robert De Niro on how Francis Ford Coppola was adamant about having Al Pacino in The Godfather I
Both Robert De Niro and Al Pacino have appeared in some of the iconic movies in their career. Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather I and The Godfather II are among those movies. Before De Niro was cast in The Godfather II, he had also read for The Godfather I, but it did not work out.
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In an interview with GQ published on November 20, 2019, De Niro was asked if he and Pacino were competitive.
"It’s not that you’re competitive. You’re up for the same parts. Like Godfather—Francis wanted Al. But every actor knew about it, and I think the studio was forcing him to look [elsewhere], from what I understood of it. And I never confirmed this with Francis, but they were putting pressure on him to use somebody other than Al," he said.
In the aforementioned video interview with GQ, De Niro even said that his favorite movie of Al Pacino is The Godfather. He also reflected on the fact that the studio wanted Coppola to look for actors other than Pacino although he was perfect for it and how it might not have worked out if it was someone else.
De Niro even went on to say that he would have been disappointed if someone else were to be cast in the movie instead of Pacino.
"You know, as an actor, sometimes what would upset you was if someone does a part that you were up for, and they use them for the wrong reasons, and the person isn't really as good. You want them to be good. And so, then you're happy. Okay, well, somebody who's good or great in it, that's fine," he said.
The Godfather I is available to stream on Paramount+. The Irishman is available to stream on Netflix.
