KingsOfKings
𝕄𝕒𝕕𝕝𝕚𝕓 𝕚𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔾𝕠𝕒𝕥
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"Nicolas Cage made his director uncle, Francis Ford Coppola, an offer he was able to refuse.
While in conversation with Andrew Garfield, Jonathan Majors, Peter Dinklage, and Simon Rex for The Hollywood Reporter's Actors Roundtable published Wednesday, Cage said he implored Coppola — his paternal uncle — to cast him in his film The Godfather: Part III — but "it just wasn't going to happen."
The actor had been vying for the role of Vincent Corleone, son of Sonny Corleone (James Caan) and his mistress Lucy Mancini (Jeannie Linero), in the third installment of the franchise. It ultimately went to Andy Garcia, who garnered an Oscar nomination for his performance.
"This is a very embarrassing answer to your question, okay, because it involves family," Cage said. "So Uncle [Coppola] was doing Godfather III, and I said, 'I really think I ought to be in your movie, Uncle. I really think it's a good idea if you would cast me. I think I could play this part.'"
Coppola had already been set on casting Garcia, but "I said, 'But I just see myself more as James Caan's son, and he's playing Sonny's son. He's not playing Michael's son. He's Sonny's son. I just feel a little more James Caan,'" Cage said. "It just wasn't going to happen. So that was a movie I didn't get let in that I really wanted to be in."
Godfather III debuted in theaters on Christmas Day in 1990. At the time, Cage already had memorable turns in Moonstruck and Raising Arizona. He had also already starred in his uncle's Rumble Fish and The Cotton Club. Coppola previously shared that Cage, as well as Alec Baldwin, Tom Cruise, Billy Zane, Matt Dillon, Charlie Sheen, and Val Kilmer, competed for the Vincent role