The important career lesson Al Pacino learned from Dwayne Johnson: “He admires The Rock”
It’s hard to imagine Al Pacino looking up to anyone. The legendary actor has given many performances worthy of admiration, from The Godfather to Any Given Sunday, Donnie Brasco to Scarface. He’s been an inspiration to many great performers and continues to garner respect from generations of stars, no matter how many movies he makes, like Jack and Jill.
Even the greats need a helping hand every now and then. Pacino has had the good fortune to know and work alongside some of the most important and talented figures in Hollywood, so he’s had a lot of opportunities to borrow from the best of the best. However, according to one of his directors, the icon learned an important lesson from a very unlikely source.
David Gordon Green, best known for helming the most recent Halloween remakes, directed Pacino in 2014’s Manglehorn. While promoting the movie to The Guardian, Green spoke about working with the Academy Award winner and theorised what it must be like to walk in his shoes. “When you’re Al Pacino, people want you to be larger than life,” he said. “But he’s never going to be everybody for everybody.” He then dropped this fascinating nugget: “He told me he admires The Rock because The Rock knows how to switch it on for his fans.”
Dwayne Johnson, also known as ‘The Rock’ from his days as a wrestler, was on top of the world in 2014. After toiling in B-level action flicks and cringey family comedies, he had broken into the big leagues with his appearance in 2011’s Fast Five. A bumper year in 2013 led to the release of 2014’s Hercules and put him on the path to becoming the highest-paid actor in the world, a title he would first achieve in 2016.
As well as being dynamite at the box office (at least he used to be), Johnson is also extremely charismatic. This all stems back from his time in the ring, where he was one of the greatest talkers in the history of the business. The best pro wrestling characters are big, theatrical, larger-than-life individuals that usually have their performers’ real personalities turned up to 11. As The Rock, Johnson earned the love of millions (and millions) of fans with his sharp tongue, enthralling cadence, and an army of catchphrases. He took this winning formula and translated it perfectly across to acting promotion; Johnson knows when to get into character and when to turn on his charm. Pacino did well to recognise this talent.
The difference between someone like Johnson and someone like Pacino is that, while the former is very good at what he does, that’s his only gear. Most people only know the latter for a handful of similar roles, but he’s so much more than that. Karina Longworth, author of the biography Al Pacino: Anatomy of an Actor, put it best when she wrote, “People think they have an idea of Al Pacino based on performances in movies like Scarface, but most people forget the moments of grace that make those performances interesting. His career encompasses so much more than the six or seven films that are associated with catchphrases, but the sheer repeatability of something like ‘Hoo-ah!’ allows those performances to overshadow everything else.”
The ability to pick up on personality beats from all walks of life is what makes the great actors truly great. Most people would dismiss Johnson as a sideshow, but Pacino’s sharp mind was able to pick out parts of his schtick that he is lacking. That’s true genius right there.
