Memorable Facts About The Godfather's James Caan

1.

"During the production of The Godfather, James Caan was known to hang out with Carmine Persico, aka "The Snake", a notorious mafioso and later head of the Colombo crime family. Government agents briefly mistook Caan, who was relatively unknown at the time, as an aspiring mobster." - u/clawsmopolitan

2.

"Misery role of author Paul Seldon was offered to William Hurt, Kevin Kline, Michael Douglas, Harrison Ford, Dustin Hoffman, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Richard Dreyfuss, Gene Hackman, Robert Redford, Warren Beatty, before landing on James Caan" - u/holdmymeatpipe

3.

"After filming ELF, Will Ferrell gave James Caan the GODFATHER trilogy with a note saying "Great working with you. The first one is a little bit slow, but the second two are really good." - u/jack3000

4.

"In his prime James Caan turned down the lead roles in The French Connection, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Kramer vs. Kramer, Apocalypse Now, Blade Runner, Love Story." - u/shaka_sulu

5.

"Following the release of The Godfather, James Caan, who played Sonny, was so closely identified with his role that he won "Italian of the Year" twice in New York, even though he isn't Italian." - u/TooFewOtters

6.

"James Caan demanded to be paid the entire amount he received for his role in The Godfather for the one birthday flashback sequence in The Godfather Part II - which he received." - u/beno2720

7.

"The role of Superman in the 1978 film was offered to several A-listers including Robert Redford, Sylvester Stallone, Paul Newman, James Caan, and James Brolin. They all turned it down. Both Neil Diamond and Arnold Schwarzenegger lobbied hard for the role, but were ignored." - u/cderry

8.

"The 2008 comedy film "Get Smart" features 6 actors who have either won or been nominated for an Academy Award: Anne Hathaway, Alan Arkin, James Caan, Terrence Stamp, Steve Carrell, and Bill Murray." - u/idlethumbs

9.

"Robert Duvall, Marlon Brando, and James Caan would moon each other behind the scenes of "The Godfather." - u/adeebchowdhury

10.

"Dustin Hoffman, Al Pacino, Steve McQueen, James Caan, and Jack Nicholson all turned down the role of Roy Neary (eventually played by Richard Dreyfuss ) in Close Encounters of the Third Kind"

11.

"Actor James Caan was a regular on the Pro Rodeo Circuit, where his nickname was "The Jewish Cowboy" - u/amprather

12.

"James Caan, Al Pacino, Jack Nicholson, Robert De Niro and Burt Reynolds all turned down the role of Han Solo." - u/MAPster_

13.

"A 1977 film (A Bridge Too Far) starred: Sean Connery, Gene Hackman, Michael Caine, Anthony Hopkins, Laurence Olivier, Robert Redford; Elliott Gould, James Caan; Ben Cross, Liv Ullmann; Edward Fox, Dirk Bogarde; Hardy Krüger, and Ryan O'Neal" - u/DotCum

14.

"James Caan invented the term "Bada-bing" (Vanity Fair, March '09, The Godfather Wars)" - u/One_Giant_Nostril

15.

"James Caan was a 6 Dan of Gosuku Ryu Karate and trained the Culver City PD in martial arts." - u/belladonnadiorama