Robert De Niro’s appearance

Robert De Niro famously appears in ‘The Godfather: Part II’ as the young Vito Corleone, though the actor very nearly appeared in the first movie.

The actor had auditioned for the role of Sonny Corleone, but executives opted for James Caan instead, and offered Paulie Gatto to De Niro.

However, the actor wasn’t happy with the smaller part, and so turned it down in favour of ‘The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight’.

After watching the 1971 crime comedy, executives were impressed with De Niro’s acting and so offered him the pivotal role for ‘The Godfather’ sequel.