Al Pacino turned down Apocalypse Now because he didn’t want to film outside America

Al Pacino turned down the lead role in Apocalypse Now because he wasn’t prepared to shoot the movie outside the United States.
The Hollywood icon was offered the part of Captain Benjamin Willard in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 Vietnam War epic, following their successful collaboration on The Godfather and its sequel.
However, he declined to star in the troubled movie, as he didn’t want to be on location in the Philippines for months.
“I just wasn’t ready to do it,” the Scent of a Woman star told Empire magazine. “I was at a certain point in my life and not in the right space for going away and doing a movie like that.”
He recalled the filmmaker even offered to do some filming at Pacino’s house, as the actor refused to leave the U.S.
“I remember Coppola saying at the time, ‘Pacino won’t do a film unless you do it at his house.’ I said, ‘Yes, come over to my place. We can do Apocalypse Now here. Look, we’ll get somewhere with it’,” he shared.
The role was eventually offered to Harvey Keitel, who was fired by Coppola after two weeks on set. He was replaced by Martin Sheen, and the movie went on to win the coveted Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film festival, with Coppola also earning a Golden Globe Award for his directorial effort.
Apocalypse Now became infamous for its troubled production, with filming delayed due a typhoon, drinking and partying on set, and Sheen suffering a near-fatal heart attack on set while privately battling alcoholism.