10 Unknown Actors Who Stole Movies Out From Their Famous Leads

3. Al Pacino (The Godfather)

Stole The Movie Out From: Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall Al Pacino wasn't a complete unknown before he appeared in Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather. He'd previously starred in The Panic In Needle Park, a film about heroin addiction. Though he was an incredible acting talent in that film, the legendary Mafia movie was the one that really set him on his way. As Michael Corleone, Pacino traces one of the most famous character arcs in film history. Starting as a young soldier returning home to his family, he delves down a path that leads straight to the role as patriarch of the Corleone family and head of an organised crime dynasty. He shows reluctance to join the family business but also the tact and guile to succeed. His journey towards a ruthless Don is carefully managed and constructed, and played to a tee by a fledgling Pacino. Marlon Brando may have won the Oscar, but Pacino is the real star of the film - three-dimensional and fully realised in what has become a career-defining role.