When Francis Ford Coppola was planning his version of The Godfather, he only saw one person as being suitable for the role- Marlon Brando. But Marlon was being his usual difficult self, playing hard to get and infuriating Paramount executives who encouraged Coppola to pick someone else.
Finally, Marlon agreed to take on his most famous role with one condition- that Burt Reynolds not get cast as Sonny Corleone. The studio had been considering Burt for the role, but Marlon saw Burt as a lightweight television actor and completely unacceptable as a star in an Oscar caliber film. Francis was happy to oblige. Burt was out and James Caan was in. We can only speculate how Sonny Corleone as played by Burt Reynolds would have looked like, though while James went on to serious film success, Burt ended up in lowbrow features, co-starring with orangutans and Dom Deluise.
