Today, April 25, 84 turns the great and terrible Al Pacino. Brilliantly turning into a ruthless mafia boss or an honest policeman, touching the audience in the form of a blind colonel or making them laugh in the role of an unfortunate robber, that even to the role of the devil himself – nothing is impossible for him.
And his life is not easy. Indeed. There are no simple coincidences, said the American gangster Al Capone. At least in Al Pacino's lifetime for sure. For example, the grandfather and grandmother of the actor came to America from the Sicilian town of Corleone - and later a character with the same surname Michael from “The Godfather” turned a theater actor, unknown to the general public, into a world celebrity.
Little Alfredo, together with his mother and her many relatives, lives in the Bronx - an area that was extremely criminal at the time. His father left them when the child was two years old. He never has enough money, for entertainment he enjoys rare trips to the cinema. After a screening in front of his family and neighbors, Sonny (as his friends called him) replayed the film he had seen. The teenager's talent did not go unnoticed: he began to be entrusted with roles in school productions. Once, after a play, one of the spectators approached his mother: "This is the future Brando!". Al, who was standing nearby, perked up: "And who is Brando?"
After several unsuccessful attempts, Sonny nevertheless entered the famous Actor's Studio, where he mastered his skills according to Stanislavski's system. Although he did not finish his studies, he appeared on Broadway and was awarded the prestigious “Tony” award. "Some actors play their character. Pacino is becoming him,'' said his mentor Lee Strasberg. Getting out of a role for Al is painful: when after the play “Richard III“ Jacqueline Kennedy comes to his dressing room to express her admiration, he doesn't even get up from his chair “I was still the king”, the actor recalls.
Pacino's first film role – addict Bobby in the movie “Panic in Needle Park” - was so remembered by Francis Ford Coppola that he asked the producers of the film “The Godfather” ultimatum: it's Michael Corleone, period. And the role is claimed by Robert Redford, Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty and the young Robert De Niro. Suddenly for the “dwarf“ (what a nickname they stuck to him because of his height) stands the author of the book Mario Puzo. Relationships on set are complicated. Al does everything his way and the bosses are about to fire him, but then they see the scene where Michael killed Captain McCluskey and Virgil Sollozzo – Turkey, change your mind.
The Godfather brought the actor his first Oscar nomination. Al ignored the ceremony: it hurt him that the academics considered his Michael a secondary character and all the attention was directed to Marlon Brando. Pacino still received the coveted statuette, but only after 20 years and from the eighth attempt - for the role of a blind retired military man in the drama "Feeling for a Woman". The famous tango scene from this film was rehearsed for a week and shot over three days.
Source: BNR