While it’s common knowledge that the makers of one of the greatest films of the 1970s wanted someone else to play Michael Corleone, Pacino now claims that he almost turned down the part.

Pacino’s decision to continue with the film was influenced by director Francis Ford Coppola.

Pacino told ABC News’ “Nightline” that “they wanted to fire me when I was on the picture … [during] the shooting, first couple of weeks. Because they kept seeing the rushes, you know, or the footage that was shot, and they kept looking at it and thinking, ‘What is he doing?’”

“I was so confused at that time, and Francis was so supportive, you know, and so helping me in it, all of it,” he explained. “If it wasn’t for Francis, I would’ve just not showed up one day and said, ‘Hey, look man, I don’t want to be where I’m not wanted’.”

“It was – yes, a form of innocence or detachment in a crazy way. It was a kind of detachment. And then so that when the character finally emerges…you say where did that come from? That was what I was really going after.”

In the rest of the “Godfather” trilogy, Pacino reprised his role as the mafia leader.

Pacino said he went back and viewed some of the footage and was pleased with how it came out.

“It was — yes, a form of innocence or detachment in a crazy way. It was a kind of detachment. And then so that when the character finally emerges … you say where did that come from? That was what I was really going after.”

He said that the restaurant scene from “The Godfather” was what kept him in the picture.

“I wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for the great Sterling Hayden and… tiny Al Lettieri. “Even Frances couldn’t stop them from letting me leave,” Pacino added.

“And I guess the way it was directed and the way it came off, they said, “Okay, we’ll keep him.'”

Pacino is presently starring in the film “Danny Collins,” which is set to hit theaters today.