Bob Hoskins has revealed he was paid £20,000 NOT to play Al Capone in The Untouchables.

The 66-year-old Oscar winner revealed to Absolute Radio: “Brian De Palmer sent me a script for The Untouchables and said ‘look at Al Capone’. I went to meet him at his hotel and he said ‘really I want Robert De Niro to play him’ and I thought ‘well great what am I doing here?’. He then said ‘but if he don’t do it, would you sort of step in?’ and I said ‘yeah of course I will’.

Bob Hoskins was paid £20,000 despite not playing Al Capone



“Anyway months went by and I read the papers and saw De Niro was doing it. I’d sort of forgotten all about it, and then Linda – my Mrs – was opening the post one morning and said ‘what’s that?’ and it was a cheque for £20,000. It said ‘thanks for you time Bob, love Brian’.”


He laughed: “I phoned him up and I said ‘Brian, if you’ve ever got any films you don’t want me in son, you just give me a call!'”

:: Bob was calling the Christian O’Connell Breakfast Show in a bid to win £20,000 for charity and £20,000 for a listener as part of the station’s Who’s Calling Christian competition, which runs on Absolute Radio until March 25.

For more information go to http://www.absoluteradio.co.uk.