Clint Eastwood needs no introduction to the filmmaking world. From gaining prominence with his Rawhide series, he made a name for himself with leading roles that led him to become an enduring cultural icon of masculinity. With acclaimed projects under his belt, he also garnered major success with his directing career further elevating his portfolio.
While he has undoubtedly enjoyed immense success with the projects he starred in or directed, he could have gotten another impressive war movie under his belt. The project in question is none other than Apocalypse Now which is directed by none other than The Godfather director, Francis Ford Coppola.
Clint Eastwood Turned Down to Star in Lead Role in Apocalypse Now
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in 2015, he confirmed his initial association with the 1979 epic war movie, Apocalypse Now.
“I did. Apocalypse Now, they… [Francis Ford] Coppola called me up and asked me if I wanted to do the young guy I think later played by Martin Sheen.”
While The Godfather director was interested in having him for the lead role, Clint Eastwood was unsure about working in the movie. Since he had read Heart of Darkness, which the movie is loosely based on, he had an idea of how things would go.
“And asked me if I wanted to play that and I said gee, I don’t know I don’t understand this show too much. I did read Heart of Darkness when I was young and so I kind of knew where it was going but then I said no, I don’t think I can go off for that long a time. He was going to go 16 weeks in the Philippines.”
This was not the only factor that affected his decision to turn down the offer. Another factor included was the movie’s lengthy production process.
Apocalypse Now’s Lengthy Filming Time Further Affected Clint Eastwood’s Decision
The Cry Macho actor is very particular about production time for his projects and the epic war movie surely didn’t have short filming time. He recalled in the same interview with The Hollywood Reporter
“And then Steve McQueen called me and he says why don’t you come on and you come on and play this role? I said I thought you were going to play that role because I’d read somewhere that he was going to play.”
McQueen clarified to him at the time that he chose Kurtz’s role to save his filming time. He continued,
“He said no, no, he said I want to play the Kurtz role that [Marlon] Brando ended up playing. And I said well why do you want to play that? He says well, I get the same money but I only have to work two weeks. I said well you’ve figured it out.”
However, the former was not ready to dedicate such a long time, which eventually led him to pass down the offer.
“I said I don’t know about going to the Philippines and there’s a lot of unknown factors maybe over there and I’d just gotten through building a house and everything and I thought no I don’t want to go away that long.”
Eventually, the movie ended up stretching its production length to over a year due to a string of issues hovering around the project. From natural disasters, and suicidal breakdowns, to movie star egos, the movie met with several problems but eventually ended well at the box office. It grossed over $100 million worldwide, bagging two Oscars for Best Cinematography and Best Sound.
Apocalypse Now is available to rent or purchase on Apple TV.