Why Al Pacino didn’t want to work with Michelle Pfeiffer: “Can you blame him?”
When you talk about icons of the 1980s, no list would be complete without Michelle Pfeiffer. Beginning with Grease 2 in 1982, she embodied a kind of old-school Hollywood glamour that would not have been out of place in the 1940s. Films like Scarface, The Witches of Eastwick, and Dangerous Liaisons made her a household name, while her role as Catwoman in Batman Returns enshrined her place in cinematic legend.
Pfeiffer has worked with a pretty impressive roster of directors over the years, including Mike Nichols, Brian De Palma, Martin Scorsese, and Jonathan Demme. She’s even worked with off-beat auteurs like John Waters and Darren Aronofsky. Early in her career, however, such a starry resumé was far from guaranteed. In fact, she almost missed out on one of her most famous roles simply because her potential co-star wasn’t impressed with her track record.
During an interview with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show in 2017, Pfeiffer revealed that Al Pacino fought hard to keep her from starring opposite him in Scarface. “He was probably more intense back then,” she conceded, “Or at least, I think it was maybe the nature of the project, and he didn’t particularly want me for the part.”
She blamed his reservations on her previous performance. “My last credit before that was Grease 2,” she said, “Can you blame him?”
The part in De Palma’s 1983 classic Scarface was for Elvira Hancock, the glamorous wife of a ruthless drug kingpin who leaves him for his protegee, Tony Montana (Pacino). The character is addicted to cocaine and is at turns regal and mysterious and wild with rage. It was a far cry from Grease 2, but Pfeiffer was determined to get the role. Unfortunately, things got worse before they got better.
“I was terrified, and I was really young, and I knew he didn’t want me,” she said, “And as it went on, the worse I got because I just got so afraid.” Towards the end of the months-long auditioning process, De Palma decided to put her out of her misery and send her home. It was a relief on some level, Pfeiffer conceded. After months of trying out for a role that she knew she wasn’t favoured to get, she was glad to finally be done with it.
Geena Davis, Sharon Stone, Kim Basinger, and Melanie Griffith were all in the running, and De Palma and Pacino favoured Glenn Close above everyone else. However, about a month after getting formally rejected for the part, Pfeiffer got a call asking her to do a screen test. At that point, she had moved on emotionally, which she said helped her feel free in the role again.
For the screen test, she and Pacino performed the restaurant scene that takes place towards the end of the film when Elvira angrily walks out on Tony. Pfeiffer went for broke, throwing dishes and silverware. “There was blood everywhere,” she said, revealing that it was not she was bleeding; it was Pacino. It won her the part then and there.
Whatever she captured in that pivotal screen test clearly shined through when they got down to shooting the movie. It was a breakout role for Pfeiffer, solidifying her as an icon even before she became a star. All these years later, it remains one of her greatest performances.
