Crazy Little-Known Facts about "The Godfather" Franchise

Back to De Niro

One person who wanted the role of Michael Corleone was Robert De Niro. He was passed up. He also auditioned to play Sunny, but that role was given to James Caan. Eventually, De Niro went on his way to film other things, but The Godfather franchise came crawling back to him. 

Joining In

Later, De Niro was asked to play Paulie. De Niro declined and chose to go with another film at the time. Later, he was asked again to play a Young Vito Corleone in The Godfather II. He accepted the role and eventually went on to win an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.