Robert De Niro Auditions for Sonny Corleone
If you take anything away from Robert De Niro’s failed audition to be Sonny in The Godfather (which ultimately went to James Caan), it should be a lesson in perseverance. While he failed to get a part in one of the best movies ever made, he managed to land a role in the sequel, one that might have been even better than the one he was trying to get in the first place, as young Vito Corleone.
Still, I can easily see him as Sonny through this short audition above, but Caan’s version was fantastic too, and ultimately the longer, more involved part went to De Niro. It’s also crazy to see De Niro so young, as I feel like the man has looked 60+ for about thirty years now.
