You're Right! Pacino was offered the role of Michael Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather, a plum assignment plucked handily away from the likes of Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty. Stealing quietly into the film as the reluctant Mafia scion thrust into the family business, Pacino crafted an ingenious study of Michael's metamorphosis from idealistic war hero to lethal underworld lord. He swaggered away from The Godfather with movie stardom and an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor to his credit. He followed up quickly with forceful performances, in Serpico (in the role of a scrupulously honest cop who attempts to uncover corruption in the N.Y.P.D.), The Godfather, Part II (in another Oscar-nominated performance as the rancorous don), and Dog Day Afternoon (in the role of a volcanic bisexual bankrobber).