"You need some insecurity if you're an actor. It keeps the pot boiling."
Alfredo James Pacino (born April 25, 1940) is often regarded as one of the greatest actors in American film history.
He was born to Italian-American parents in New York City. Despite a difficult childhood in an impoverished neighborhood, he pursued his dream of becoming an actor and was almost instantly recognized as a natural. After taking roles of varying prominence in several on- and off-Broadway plays, he caught the eye of Francis Ford Coppola while on the set of the film The Panic at Needle Park. Coppola fought tooth and nail to get Pacino in the role of Michael Corleone; competitors for the role included Robert De Niro (who went on to play Michael's father in Part II), Jack Nicholson, and Dustin Hoffman. Pacino was acclaimed, and the rest is history.
He often stars in gangster and cop films and is frequently compared to De Niro. He also maintains his Broadway career, though most aren't aware of it. Pacino's memorable roles are Michael Corleone, Sonny Wortzik, and Tony Montana. His performance as Michael Corleone, particularly in the sequel, is legendary and considered one of the greatest film performances ever.
He has been nominated for an Academy Award nine times in his career, winning Best Actor for his performance as Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade in Scent of a Woman. He's also won four Golden Globes, two Emmys, two Tonys, and a BAFTA.
Filmography:
- The Panic in Needle Park (1971) - Bobby
- The Godfather (1972) - Michael Corleone
- The Godfather Part II (1974)
- The Godfather Part III (1990)
- Scarecrow (1973) - Lion
- Serpico (1973) - Frank Serpico
- Dog Day Afternoon (1975) - Sonny Wortzik
- ...And Justice for All (1979) - Arthur Kirkland
- Cruising (1980) - Steve Burns
- Scarface (1983) - Antonio "Tony" Montana
- Revolution (1985) - Tom Dobb
- Sea of Love (1989) - Detective Frank Keller
- Dick Tracy (1990) - Big Boy
- Frankie & Johnny (1991) - Johnny
- Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) - Ricky Roma
- Scent of a Woman (1992) - Frank Slade
- Carlito's Way (1993) - Carlito Brigante
- Heat (1995) - Vincent Hanna
- City Hall (1996) - Mayor John Pappas
- Donnie Brasco (1997) - Lefty
- The Devil's Advocate (1997) - John Milton
- The Insider (1999) - Lowell Bergman
- Any Given Sunday (1999) - Tony D'Amato
- Insomnia (2002) - Will Dormer
- S1m0ne (2002) - Viktor Taransky
- The Recruit (2003) - Burke
- Gigli (2003) - Starkman
- Angels in America (2003) - Roy M. Cohn (HBO miniseries)
- The Merchant of Venice (2004) - Shylock
- 88 Minutes (2007) - Jack Gramm
- Ocean's Thirteen (2007) - Willy Bank
- Righteous Kill (2008) - Rooster
- You Don't Know Jack (2010) - Jack Kevorkian (HBO Movie)
- Jack and Jill (2011) - Himself
- Phil Spector (2013) - Phil Spector (HBO Movie)
- The Humbling (2014) - Simon Adler
- Manglehorn (2014) - A.J. Manglehorn
- Danny Collins (2015) - Danny Collins
- Paterno (2018) - Joe Paterno (HBO Movie)
- Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) - Marvin Schwartz
- The Irishman (2019) - Jimmy Hoffa
- House of Gucci (2021) - Aldo Gucci
Tropes Include:
- Adam Westing: He appears As Himself in Jack and Jill.
- Anti-Hero: They're usually protagonists, but his characters are also bad guys most of the time.
- Author Appeal: As a director, his two documentaries, Looking for Richard and Wilde Salomé, are both analyses of specific plays.
- Blank Stare: Has this down so well, it's almost his natural expression. This was especially notable in his portrayal of Frank Slade in Scent of a Woman, who is blind. It's an interesting variation of this trope due to his intense and expressive application of it, sometimes overlapping with Thousand-Yard Stare or Death Glare, both of which were frequently used in The Godfather Trilogy.
- Brooklyn Rage: He was born and raised in the Bronx, and his characters tend to be very angry.
- Career Resurrection: His career took a major hit in the 80's but he bounced back in the 90's. It then stopped somewhat in the 2000s, but he has been making another comeback with the late 2010s.
- Chewing the Scenery: If you've seen Scarface (1983), then you've seen this trope at its most triumphant.
- Chronically Killed Actor: Comes with playing criminals a lot.
- Cool Old Guy: From the mid-90s onward, his roles have employed this.
- Doing It for the Art: After already establishing himself as an actor, he decided to direct Richard III adaptation Looking for Richard.
- Enforced Method Acting: As is common with his generation of actors, Al Pacino would remain in character both on and off set. One time, between filming scenes for Serpico (where he plays a cop), he threatened to arrest a truck driver for exhaust pollution.
- Fake Nationality: Aside from American and Italian roles (the former his nationality, the latter his ethnicity), he played a Cuban in Scarface (1983) and King Herod in Salomé.
- Grumpy Old Man: From the 2000s onward his characters tend to be grumpy and miserly older men, a natural evolution to his skill at playing jerk characters.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Portrays this well, especially as Tony Montana and Lt. Vincent Hanna.
- Hidden Depths: Pacino is a surprisingly talented film and documentary director.
- Historical Domain Character: He's one of the go-to actors used to play real people.
- Jaded Washout: In recent years he's portrayed quite a few aging characters (especially mobsters) whose Glory Days are long behind them, most notably in Donnie Brasco.
- Jerkass: His characters are usually hard to like. Subverted in Scent of a Woman, where he was a Jerk with a Heart of Gold who also contained Hidden Depths; averted in Donnie Brasco, where he was Affably Evil; and zigzagged in The Godfather Trilogy, where he was more Faux Affably Evil.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: A few of his later roles have had him play roles like this.
- Large Ham: In so many of his performances, he has his own folder.
- Evil Is Hammy: The flavor chosen for Scarface (1983), Dick Tracy and The Devil's Advocate
- Averted in Real Life, wherein he is surprisingly very shy and soft-spoken.
- The Mafia: His Sicilian heritage and upbringing helped him secure his role as Michael Corleone in The Godfather, and he has since played many roles related to this organization. Humorously inverted in The Irishman where he plays the Irish/German-descended Jimmy Hoffa, who hates Italians.
- Method Acting: Like many actors of his generation, Pacino employed this as part of his acting style.
- Production Posse: With actors Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton, Michelle Pfeiffer, Andy García, Bruno Kirby, Alan Arkin, Brad Pitt, Michael Madsen, James Caan, Robert Duvall, John Cazale, Talia Shire, Dominic Chianese, Lee Strasberg, Paul Sorvino, Abe Vigoda, Joe Spinell, Richard Bright, Tom Rosqui, and Franco Citti. He has also worked with directors Francis Ford Coppola, Brian De Palma, Michael Mann, Sidney Lumet, Martin Brest, James Foley, Jerry Schatzberg, and Jon Avnet; writer/directors Oliver Stone, David Mamet, and Barry Levinson; and producers Martin Brest and Irwin Winkler.
- Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: Particularly during tirades, he breaks his lines up with sudden stops, seemingly ending his sentence, right before adding an especially cutting remark or impactful line.
- Notable in Glengarry Glen Ross:"What are you gonna do about it... asshole? You're fucking shit. Where did you learn your TRADE, you stupid fucking cunt, you idiot? Whoever told you that you could work with MEN?"
- Also in The Godfather Part II:"You heard what happened in my home? In my HOME! IN MY BEDROOM! WHERE MY WIFE SLEEPS!... Where my children come to play with their toys."
- Notable in Glengarry Glen Ross:
- Recurring Element: His documentaries examine a play while simultaneously featuring a performance of the play.
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: There are few roles of his where his character isn't dominated by this trope.
- Star-Derailing Role: Revolution (1985) was such a big flop that he disappeared from films and went back to theatre until Sea of Love.
- Star-Making Role: The Godfather.
- Suddenly Shouting: Works in tandem with Large Ham and Chewing the Scenery.
- Throw It In: His legendary "GREAT ASS" line from Heat was improvised.
- Tom Hanks Syndrome: Believe it or not, he started out as a stand-up comedian.
- Typecasting: As criminals, cops, general authority figures, hardasses, and street urchins.
- Vocal Evolution: His voice has gotten considerably deeper over the years. It’s a well known fact that Pacino has been a MASSIVE chainsmoker his entire life, which may be a big possibility for why his voice has gotten extremely guttural as he’s gotten older. It can be seriously jarring to go back and watch The Godfather or Dog Day Afternoon and compare it to something like Heat and hear how different his voice is in the two films.
