Al Pacino

Al Pacino in The Godfather — Al Pacino in “The Godfather”

Alongside fellow Italian super star, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino is one of the greatest actors of all time, taking the film world by storm in the early 1970’s and quickly evolving from a short nobody to an Academy-Award contender. Powerfully menacing in whatever role he takes on, Pacino has become a fan favorite and made the job of film critics everywhere that much easier. The long list of cinematic masterpieces that garnish his resume are just as intimidating as the long list of films he turned down, including “Kramer vs. Kramer,” “Born on the Fourth of July,” “Apocalypse Now,” “Star Wars,” “Pretty Woman” and “Crimson Tide.” Born Alfredo James Pacino in April of 1940 to a pair of Italian immigrants living in East Harlem, Pacino was interested in acting since the age of three when he would return home from a trip to the movies and act out the scenes to his grandfather. Along with inventing fictional histories for himself to impress his schoolmates, Pacino also took part in many of the school plays and was even voted “Most Likely to Succeed.” At fourteen, Pacino left home for the High School of Performing Arts, but was shortly expelled after scoring poorly in the classroom. Three years later, the young actor left home to pursue a career on the stage and worked odd jobs as a theater usher and janitor to keep himself from living on the streets. During his time looking for work as an actor, Pacino was also arrested for carrying a concealed weapon when a group of his friends were stopped by police wearing black ski masks and looking ominous, but he talked his way out of jail by explaining to the cops that it was an acting assignment. After his run in with the law and five more years of uninspiring work, Pacino enrolled in acting lessons with Charles Laughton at the Herbert Berghof Studio until he was finally accepted in to the acclaimed Actor’s Studio.

Pacino dabbled in some off-Broadway productions and made a few appearances on the screen, but it wasn’t until director Francis Ford Coppola offered him the role of Michael Corleone in “The Godfather” that his career was truly on the track to success. His performance in the final acquired plenty of critical recognition and an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor, but Pacino was far from finished. He followed up his award-worthy performance with a revival of the Corleone family in “The Godfather: Part II,” as well as other fabulous performances in “Dog Day Afternoon,” “Scarface,” “Frankie and Johnny” and “Carlito’s Way.” The butt end of Pacino’s career hasn’t been nearly as impressive as his earlier stuff, but his eventual decline in the Hollywood food chain isn’t that painful when compared to other big names like De Niro and Brando. While his choices haven’t been the greatest (i.e. “The Devil’s Advocate,” “Insomnia” and “The Recruit“), he never fails to turn a bad script into an amazing performance. Case in point: edging out an Oscar nomination as the cartoonish Big Boy Caprice in “Dick Tracy” is a hard feat in its own, but Al Pacino is a Hollywood legend that will never die.

In 2019, Pacino starred opposite Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci in “The Irishman.”

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Badass Bracket – Tony Montata

In 2007, we created a Badass Bracket for 32 of the most badass characters from the movies and TV that we could think of. It was pretty hard narrowing it down to that number, but Tony Montana was an obvious choice. He made it through two rounds, until he ran into the Batman.

Here’s the Badass Bracket profile for Tony Montana:

Al Pacino, “Scarface“
What do you say about the most profane gangster in the history of profane gangsters? Local drug lord Frank Lopez secured a green card for a young punk named Tony Montana in exchange for killing one of his fellow Cuban refugees, and the Miami cocaine trade would never be the same. Tony’s rise to prominence was swift, thanks to his strict adherence to the tenets of success (“…when you get the money, then you get the power. Then when you get the power, then you get the women”), and there is no one in his crew that is too good to kill, which keeps his people honest. Sure, not everyone appreciates his brash style of management, but when the chips are down, Tony can always rely on his “little friend,” a combination M16 and grenade launcher.

Definitive badass moment: When Tony watches emotionlessly while his associate Angel is dismembered with a chainsaw during a drug deal gone wrong.

Classic badass line: “I kill a communist for fun, but for a green card, I gonna carve him up real nice.”

Seed: #13
Occupation: Drug lord
Strengths: Blindly ambitious, will do whatever it takes to win
Weaknesses: She don’t lie, she don’t lie, she don’t lie…cocaine
Bracket History: Defeated #5 Jules Winnfield in round 3, 53%-47% / Defeated #4 Cord Walker in round 2, 57%-43%

Bullz-Eye Features

Between Good & Evil: Hollywood heavy hitters going toe to toe
De Niro and Pacino – There’s just something about two great actors squaring off that makes for some of the most memorable cinematic moments.

Robert De Niro and Al Pacino on the QT
These two great will be forever linked as two of the iconic actors of their generation. Here we take a look at some of their less well-known roles.

Life Lessons from “The Godfather”
Here’s a fun look back at the film with some life lessons you can learn from the movie. It includes some great quotes from Al Pacino as Michael Corleone.

Al on the Screen

Rolling out the blueprints to Pacino’s career can be a bit tedious, but his film work has been so prominent throughout the past 30 years that it would be a shame not to touch on his greatest movies. Joining Robert de Niro in the ranks of overused Italians in the mob film, Pacino has made a living on a number of these roles, most prominently with his Hollywood breakthrough performance in Copolla’s “Godfather” trilogy and Brian de Palma’s “Carlito’s Way.” Pacino’s also been a straight-out baddie in early films like “Scarface” and “Dog Day Afternoon,” and in later films like “The Recruit.” Pacino’s also been on the flip side of crime in “Serpico,” “Donnie Brasco,” “Heat” and “Insomnia.” Some of the actor’s more recent films have given the short-statured actor some interesting characters to play, like the burnt-out football coach in Oliver Stone’s “Any Given Sunday,” taking down the cigarette industry alongside Russell Crowe in “The Insider” and as a blind lieutenant in “Scent of a Woman.” Regardless of what direction he takes his career, Pacino will always be one of the most talented actors on the market.

“The Godfather” (1972)
Pacino’s performance as Michael Corleone established him as a star and ultimately a Hollywood icon. The film propelled the careers of so many young actors, including Duvall and John Cazale.

“Donnie Brasco” (1997)
Pacino stars opposite Johnny Depp in this crime drama following an FBI agent (Depp) who infiltrates the mob by defriending a washed-up hitman (Pacino). This film gives us “the nuanced and understated Pacino who perfectly captures a character desperately trying to make it in a harsh world where younger members of his crew are passing him by.”

Al Pacino Quotes

On CGI film characters:
“It’s easy to fool the eye but it’s hard to fool the heart.”

On acting:
“The actor becomes an emotional athlete. The process is painful–my personal life suffers.”

On fame:
“You hate to say you get used to it, because you don’t really get used to it, but it gets easier. You accept it more. And you finally have to become more comfortable with it. That’s what’s happened to me, I think.”