Al Pacino Looks Back On A Legendary Career
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What does Al Pacino reflect on from his childhood?
This is Fresh Air. I'm Terry Gross. My guest today is Al Pacino.
Don't ask me about my business, Kate. Is it true? Don't ask me about my business. No!
Well, I'm going to ask Pacino about his business, by which I mean his art.
It sounded like a shot to me.
It did, I know. It's you slamming the table.
Oh, all right. As long as it's not a gun. I've had enough of those.
So I'm going to talk to Pacino about his remarkable performance in the Godfather films and other films. We'll also talk about his life. He's written a new memoir called Sunny Boy, which is the name his mother used to call him. It spans his life from the days he grew up in the South Bronx, raised by a single mother with little money. to falling in love with the language of the great playwrights Strindberg, Chekhov, and Shakespeare, getting his start in avant-garde theater in Greenwich Village, surprising himself by becoming a movie star, nearly dying from COVID, and all the ups and downs along the way. Thank you very much.
He won an Emmy for his performance in the HBO adaptation of the play Angels in America, playing Roy Cohn. He starred in the film adaptation of David Mamet's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Glengarry Glen Ross, and later starred in a Broadway revival of the show, but in a different role. Al Pacino, welcome to Fresh Air. So exciting to have you here.
Thank you. I'm very happy to be here.
I want to get to a lot of your life. I want to start by talking about The Godfather. So I want to start with a scene from the first Godfather film. You've begun your transformation into the killer Michael, into the crime family Michael. You know, you start coming home from the military. You don't want any part of the crime family. But then you're kind of pulled in after your father is shot. So here's a scene from Godfather 1. You've begun your transformation into the hardened Michael. Your father's still alive, but Michael is preparing to take over from him. And you have become so hardened, like you hardly blink in some scenes, including this one. So you're with Mo Green, a Vegas casino owner, kind of modeled on Bugsy Siegel. And the Corleone family has helped back him.
Also in the scene is Michael's older brother, but not very bright brother, Fredo, played by John Cazale, and the family lawyer, Tom, played by Robert Duvall. Mo Green is played by Alex Rocco. You speak first.
The Corleone family wants to buy you out. The Corleone family wants to buy me out. No, I buy you out. You don't buy me out. Your casino loses money. Maybe we can do better. You think I'm skimming off the top, Mike? You're unlucky.
You damn guineas really make me laugh. I do you a favor and take Freddie in when you're having a bad time, and then you try to push me out.
Wait a minute. You took Freddy in because the Corleone family bankrolled your casino because the Molinari family on the coast guaranteed his safety. Now, we're talking business. Let's talk business.
Yeah, let's talk business, mate. First of all, you're all done. The Corleone family don't even have that kind of muscle anymore. The Godfather is sick, right? You're getting chased out of New York by Barzini and the other families. What do you think is going on here? You think you can come to my hotel and take over? I talked to Barzini. I can make a deal with him and still keep my hotel.
Is that why you slapped my brother around in public?
Oh, no, that was nothing, Mike. Now, Mo didn't mean nothing by that. Sure, he flies off the handle once in a while, but Mo and me were good friends, right, Mo?
I got a business to run. I gotta kick asses sometimes to make it run right. We had a little argument, Freddie and I, so I had to straighten him out. You straightened my brother out? He was banging cocktail waitresses two at a time. Players couldn't get a drink at the table. What's wrong with you?
I leave for New York tomorrow. Think about a price.
Do you know who I am? I'm Mo Green. I made my bones when you were going out with cheerleaders. Wait a minute, Mo. Mo, I got an idea.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What does Al Pacino reflect on from his childhood?
0:00–20:55
2
How did Al Pacino's mother influence his life?
20:55–20:59
3
What key moments defined Al Pacino's career?
20:59–27:06
4
What insights does Al Pacino share about his role in The Godfather?
27:06
5
How did Al Pacino feel about nearly dying from COVID?
5:18
6
What are the themes explored in Al Pacino's memoir 'Sunny Boy'?
2:40–45:54
7
What is the significance of Al Pacino's performances in iconic films?
17:57–45:54
Speakers
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