<b>Time.com Feature Article</b> "If you don't mind, can I stand and talk to you?" Al Pacino asked with a big smile. Everyone says that the actor, who is nearly 80 years old (80 years old in April this year), is very talkative himself, and talking to him will definitely not disappoint you.
He hysterically shouts "Attica! Attica! He was very well known for his performances, and although he was now moving a little slower than he had been, he was still active, in good spirits, with a twinkle in his eye. He's acted in American movies for over 40 years, and he's amassed a lot of anecdotes —stories he seems to be enjoying and enjoying when he tells them.
The conversation took place last November, on a mild weekday afternoon in Los Angeles, after a time-based reporter also conducted a video interview with him (link please poke: Nearly a decade after the lows, the performance "Godfather" returned with an exclusive conversation with Al Pacino of "The Irishman"). Pacino was energetic throughout the whole process, trying to perform what he looked like when he was younger, wanting to experience that energy again, and he also recounted how he fell in love with acting in the first place.
"When I was younger, I realized that acting was a way to get attention and also to get you away from a particular school curriculum because I didn't like school." "So I went to school plays, and I remember playing those roles and thinking, <b>'I'm going to be an actor!'" he said. Because the road seems to make a good move</b>." ”
The Irishman
"Once I was acting in a play, I was twelve or thirteen years old." Pacino went on to say, "Someone came up to me and said, 'Hey, boy, you're the next Marlon Brando!' I looked at him and replied, '<b>Who is Marlon Brando?' </b>At this point, the smile on Pacino's face grew even bigger, and he stepped on his own laughing point and laughed and said,
"Brando may be a big man, but I didn't even know much about movies at the time. So I went to a high school where I studied acting and won the full prize. I don't really know much about acting in every way, but in acting school, I don't have to take those academic courses. I like English and literature, but not much about other courses. At the same time, I was in school) and acting, and I remember enjoying what I learned from those acting experiences. ”
"Smell the Fragrance and Recognize the Woman"
Judging from the results, he did learn a lot. Pacino is arguably going through a career rejuvenation period, having been nominated for the Golden Globe for "Best Supporting Actor" for his performance in Martin Scorsese's film The Irishman – his 18th Golden Globe nomination and having already won four trophies (he also won Cecil in 2001). B. Demir Award, the Golden Globes' "Lifetime Achievement Award"), took 8 Oscar nominations, of which 1992's "Smell the Woman" won Pacino an Oscar.
After many years of stage performance experience, he was first paid special attention to by the audience on the big screen, in his early thirties, Pacino in "Poison Sea Mandarin Duck", with a wonderful and intense performance to interpret the role of an addict. The role brought to his attention Francis Ford Coppola, who was casting for The Godfather, who was considering finding an already famous actor to play Michael Corleone, such as Jack Nicholson, Robert Redford, and Warren Beatty.
"Poisonous Sea Mandarin Duck"
But in the end, it was Pacino who won the role, which largely defined his career, and his performances in Coppola's numerous award-winning works, its sequels, and many other films were well received, such as "Conflict", and the previously mentioned "Hot Day Afternoon", as well as "Justice", "Scarface", "Smell the Woman", "The Faithful", "The Shocking Inside", etc., which made him the leading talented performer of that generation.
In the early stages of his career, there was another name that was often mentioned with Pacino, and that was Robert De Niro. "<b>I met him at a very young age, and we were both in our twenties</b>," Pacino recalls, "and when I met him, I was living on 14th Street between B And C Avenue in New York, and I was in a relationship with Jill Kreberg, and she had passed away." She is a very nice person, we are very close and have been together for many years (5 years). ”
In 1972, Pacino married his then-girlfriend, Jill Kreberg
She met Robert when Sarah Lawrence was at university, and together they collaborated on a film with Brian de Palmer (1969's The Wedding Banquet). I met Robert on the street, and she introduced me to him, and I'll never forget that scene. I think when I first met him, I thought he was a very interesting person. I even asked Jill, 'Who is this interesting person?' <b>There was a special energy emanating from him, and I couldn't even understand that energy, but I could feel it</b>. And she said, 'Oh, he's a good actor, I've worked with him.' ’”
"Then something happened in life that brought us together. We seem to have been 'famous' at about the same time. I only got a little bit of fame around 1969, or around the seventies. I used to act in theaters, that's another area. After that, we started to go hand in hand in terms of movies, and there were always people who compared us and so on. There are a lot of reports about us, and then we get together from time to time. ”
De Niro and Pacino in the Godfather 2 period
"It was when I was just getting famous, and it felt very different than before – we didn't talk much about it, and it wasn't something that was immediately acceptable. I think we were all a bit caught off guard, and it's fair to say that when you're in that position, you go through that. <b>It will take a while for us to adapt to fame</b>. ”
"Robert and I met occasionally to talk about what we went through. <b>I feel like this communication has created a connection that lasts a lifetime, and I feel like he's like my brother and I trust him</b>. And thank you Robert for letting me play this role – it was his idea, the whole project. ”
Group photo of the "Irishman" crew
The project and role Pacino mentions is Jimmy Hoffa in the movie The Irishman — a well-known figure for older Americans, but young people probably don't know much about him, and foreign audiences don't know much about him. So how did Pacino accomplish the challenge of playing the character of Hoffa? It was a charismatic working-class labour leader, a trade union organizer who, due to misjudgment of the situation and some miscalculations, an organized crime invaded his group, and he could only watch the power slip out of his hands.
"There's a lot of information about him that has helped me a lot," Pacino explains, "and I've found the most crucial thing about him." Because <b>when you read about a historical figure, there's always some revisionism in there</b>. But you're trying to piece these things together, to blend in with the characters in the script, and the character you're playing is based on the specific script you're working on. Anyway, I learned a lot. ”
Pacino with prototype Jimmy Hoffa
"I know the period when he was in power, when he was just a teenager, he was a member of the union side, I know what the workers went through at that time, and the phenomenon of child labor and so on. Martin and the other producers also helped me a lot, and they gave me a little bit about his history. Then when I play the character of Hoffa, I will look at what Hoffa looks like at different ages. Some facts surprised me. ”
"What surprised me most was that <b>he was once the most popular figure besides the president of the United States</b>, and he was once a true role model because he had a sincere heart and was willing to help workers and ordinary people. I want the character I play to embody that passion, because you can see that he's a guy who doesn't bow down to anybody. He is unique. ”
Scarface
<b>Just like Pacino himself. </b>
Note: Do you think The Irishman is good? What movie do you like most about Al Pacino's performance? The Godfather series? The Line of Fire? "Smell the Woman"? "The Gold Worshipers"? The Devil's Advocate? Or some other work? Please let us know by posting your thoughts in the comments section.