When Al Pacino showed up high to the Oscars ceremony
Al Pacino is one of the biggest names in Hollywood, loved by widespread audiences and critics for his definitive performances in undeniable classics such as The Godfather films and Scarface, among others, as well as a courageous charisma. He is regarded as one of the greatest actors of his generation, and his illustrious filmography has inspired aspiring artists all over the world.
In recent years, Pacino has worked with directors such as Quentin Tarantino and Martin Scorsese, who once called him “unreachable”. Pacino’s collaboration with Scorsese on The Irishman remains one of the finest projects of the latter half of his career since his portrayal of Jimmy Hoffa was absolutely mesmerising.
Over the years, Pacino has been involved in many crazy stories, like the time he appeared in an Adam Sandler film to do a fake commercial for a new coffee called “Dunkaccino”. While nothing can get more preposterous than that, it’s also interesting to know that the actor once showed up high to the Oscars ceremony, just like Matt Stone and Trey Parker.
Pacino spoke about the ceremony in a Playboy interview which was published by Scraps From The Loft: “I was at the Oscars once, for Serpico. That was the second time I was nominated. I was sitting in the third or fourth row with Diane Keaton. Jeff Bridges was there with his girl. No one expected me to come. I was a little high. Somebody had done something to my hair, blew it or something, and I looked like I had a bird’s nest on my head, a real mess.”
According to the actor, he was already nervous due to the psychoactive substances in his bloodstream, but it got even worse when he found out that the ceremony lasted for three hours. His nervousness increased his desire to pee, so he combated it by ingesting Valium and praying so that he wouldn’t get called onto the stage.
Pacino continued: “I sat there and tried to look indifferent because I was so nervous. Any time I’m nervous, I try to put on an indifferent or a cold look. At one point, I turned to Jeff Bridges and said, ‘Hey, looks like there won’t be time to get to the Best Actor awards.’ He gave me a strange look. He said, ‘Oh, really?’ I said, ‘It’s over, the hour is up.’ He said, ‘It’s three hours long.’ I thought it was an hour TV show, can you imagine that? And I had to pee—bad.”
He added: “So I popped a valium. Actually, I was eating Valium like they were candy. Chewed on them. Finally came the Best Actor. Can you imagine the shape I was in? I couldn’t have made it to the stage. I was praying, ‘Please don’t let it be me. Please.’ And I hear…’ Jack Lemmon.’ I was just so happy I didn’t have to get up, because I never would have made it.”
Watch the clip below.
