Who was considered for the role of John Rambo in First Blood before Sylvester Stallone?

The answer is: Dustin Hoffman. It’s amazing how long it took producers to finally land on Sly Stallone to play Vietnam veteran John Rambo, considering it’s one of the most iconic roles in action movie history. With a variety of scriptwriters and directors attached to the project along the way, there were a variety of actors considered — Steve McQueen (too old) and Al Pacino (too serious) among them. But it was Dustin Hoffman who was actually offered the role and turned it down. Thank goodness he did.Source