Fallon opened up with the question concerning De Niro’s involvement in the first Godfather film, alleging that De Niro auditioned for the role of Sonny Corleone, a role which eventually went to James Caan.
The two roles that De Niro never got a chance to play turned highly fruitful for De Niro himself and luckily for Hanks.
De Niro went on to play Vito Corleone, a younger version of the character Marlon Brando played in the first film.
Firstly, losing on the role of Sonny Corleone to James Caan allowed De Niro to be cast in a lead for the second film of the famous Godfather Trilogy.