Question: Why did James Caan never become a huge movie star after The Godfather?
He was….briefly.
Why didn’t it last?
- His box office draws were terrible - Excluding The Godfather films, Caan’s most profitable film was Eraser, he wasn’t the star of it, and it was 20 YEARS after The Godfather. Caan was a great actor, but he just didn’t make anybody any serious money.
- He had a talent for turning down films that became blockbusters - M*A*S*H*, Kramer vs. Kramer, Close Encounters, Apocalypse Now,etc. Basically if Caan rejected it, it was almost ensured to be a hit.
- His talent for picking sh*t films - Funny Lady, Freebie and The Bean,Another Man, Another Chance, Mickey Blue Eyes,etc. demonstrated that Caan could pick sh*tless films almost effortlessly. While he earned sizable paychecks for them, they did little to enhance his reputation in Hollywood.
- Cocaine - Basically, Caan had a decade or so long cocaine problem. He made a great deal of money in the 1970s but apparently between his wives (4) and his cocaine addiction he ran through MILLIONS of dollars and he received a terrible profile in Hollywood and in the media. His drug abuse, and the time he lost because of it, lowered his profile.
- He made some seriously poor decisions - Beyond his turning down films, Caan was in films which could have been franchised, and yet he declined to do so despite the potential to revive his career and introduce himself to a new generation of fans. Alien Nation could have been a springboard for Caan into either a lucrative film or television series franchise, and yet he turned up his nose at the concept. Even his turn as Philip Marlowe on HBO in 1996 was supposed to be the lead off into a series of such projects featuring him, but Caan nixed that.
- He was a major league a8shole - Very few of Caan’s costars will disparage his work ethic and his abilities. MANY of his costars will tell stories of what a d*ck that he was and how they wouldn’t work with him again because of it. Even though re-pairings of him and Al Pacino, Kathy Bates, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Marlon Brando could have earned Caan millions, none of those individuals wanted to work with Caan again after they did. Between his drug abuse, his abrasiveness, and his excessively high opinion of himself and his talents, he just couldn’t attract stars that wanted to work with him; or retain those who had.
James Caan had the world on a platter following his appearance in The Godfather.
He could have done ANYTHING that he wanted, he was offered a staggering array of high profile projects that he turned down, and he worked steadily throughout the 1970s. He was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood at the time and yet he was unable to do much with it but squander it.
Like his peers of the era Ryan O’Neal, Bruce Dern, John Savage, Michael York,etc. Caan’s personal life and unstable box office led to his profile dropping until he returned to the character roles that launched him in the 1960s.
Great actor…not so great guy:
https://www.quora.com/Why-did-James-Caan-never-become-a-huge-movie-star-after-The-Godfather
Caan was born on March 26, 1940, in The Bronx, New York City, to Sophie (née Falkenstein; 1915–2016)[3] and Arthur Caan (1909–1986), Jewish immigrants from Bingen am Rhein, Rhineland, Germany.[4][5][6] His father was a kosher meat dealer.[7]
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