The Casting Choices That Almost Changed Movies As We Know Them

The galaxy might have had a tougher, more streetwise smuggler if another Godfather actor had landed the part. James Caan auditioned for Han Solo before Harrison Ford made the role his own, and the alternate version is easy to imagine in some ways. Caan had a physical directness that could fill a frame quickly. He could make anger, loyalty, and impatience feel immediate, as he did so memorably with Sonny Corleone. But Han needed a lighter kind of danger.