Al Pacino once revealed he’s convinced Christopher Nolan is ‘miffed’ at him because he turned down a movie role – although he admitted he may just be being ‘presumptuous’.
After making his debut in 1998 with neo-noir crime thriller Following, Nolan has become one of the biggest film directors on the scene, with his work spanning everything from psychological thrillers right through to superhero blockbusters.
Over time, he’s worked with the biggest and the best, having cast the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Christian Bale, Elliot Page, Cillian Murphy and Michael Caine in his projects.
But there’s one A-lister you may not see on the credits of a Nolan film anytime soon, and that’s Al Pacino.
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The pair collaborated for 2002’s Insomnia, which follows a Los Angeles homicide detective investigating the murder of a teenage girl while also trying to cover up a crime of his own.
But since then, Pacino hasn’t returned to a project for the filmmaker – who often calls on familiar faces when casting his new movies, including Tom Hardy, Christian Bale and Joseph Gordon Levitt, to name a few.
Back in 2014, The Telegraph quoted Pacino saying at a BFI event: “He hasn’t offered me a film in a while, you know why? I’ll tell you why. He asked me to be in this movie and I didn’t do it.”
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Pacino didn’t reveal which film he’d been offered, but added: “I think that might have miffed him a little bit, but I’m being presumptuous myself.”
While we've not seen Pacino crop up in any of his films since, it's worth pointing out that his comments were made almost 10 years ago - who knows what may have happened in that time?
UNILAD has reached out to Nolan for comment.
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Pacino previously said he decided to say yes to Insomnia after being impressed by the director's film Memento, which stars Guy Pearce.
Speaking to reporters at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2002, he explained: "I think there are times where you feel that is a part that people seem to want to see me in – that kind of role. So, you want to do them from time to time, and I mainly did this one because of Chris Nolan.
"I enjoyed so much Memento and his work and his approach to the way he makes movies. That was, I think, the biggest reason I did the movie. But, again, I like the idea of a character who is in conflict. A good/bad guy. I like the good/bad guy."
Topics: Celebrity, Film and TV, Christopher Nolan
Jess Hardiman