Corleone Quotes

After his suggestions of Warren Beatty, Alain Delon and Burt Reynolds to play the role of Michael Corleone in The Godfather (1972) were rejected by Francis Ford Coppola, Paramount production chief Robert Evans suggested Redford. When Coppola demurred, preferring his first choice of Tony Awar-winning Broadway actor Al Pacino, Evans explained that Redford could fit the role as he could be perceived as "northern Italian." Evans lost the struggle, Pacino was cast and a star was born.

(On being voted "Italian of the Year" in New York twice, after his role as Sonny Corleone in The Godfather (1972)): I`m a Jew from the Bronx. I feel guilty about accepting these awards, but they wouldn`t let me turn them down.

If it was up to them, I`d be playing Sonny Corleone my entire life. Usually, if there weren`t eight people dead by page 11, they wouldn`t send me the script. People say, "Gee, you do a lot of mafia movies". I think I`ve done two, out of 60.