The Oscars snub that has always irritated Al Pacino: “I would have liked to have even got nominated”
Some actors make it their life mission to become Oscar winners, fiercely picking out roles in the hopes of receiving widespread praise and adoration. Perhaps it’s ego, or maybe it’s just a desire to see their hard work recognised; regardless, many actors won’t stop until they’ve secured an Academy Award under their belt.
In many instances, it just seems to come easily to an actor. All they have to do is appear in a leading role, and they’ll probably scoop up a nomination from the Academy, like Meryl Streep, who has a whopping 21 nominations to her name. She has won three of them, only narrowly missing out on the Oscars record, which is currently held by Katharine Hepburn, who won four ‘Best Actress’ Oscars.
It doesn’t come as easily to everyone, however, even if they’re a huge star. Al Pacino might be regarded as one of the greatest actors of his generation, dominating the 1970s with his incredible performances in everything from The Panic in Needle Park and The Godfather to Serpico and Dog Day Afternoon, but he didn’t actually win an Oscar until 1992 for Scent of a Woman. While his performance was great here, he certainly should’ve won his Oscar sooner, if not for any of the aforementioned titles, then maybe for Scarface.
The film, directed by Brian De Palma, saw Pacino play Tony Montana, a drug lord who rises to the top only to fall straight back down again. Based on the original 1932 film, Scarface brought the glamour, excess, and violence of this cocaine fuelled world to the screen in all of its tainted glory, and Pacino did a fantastic job of embodying the greedy and ambitious protagonist.
It was a big role to take on and one that he executed perfectly. Yet, the actor was shocked to discover that he had no chance of winning an Academy Award for the part—he wasn’t even nominated. In fact, the movie didn’t scrape a single nomination from the Oscars, although it is now considered an iconic piece of cinema history, full of quotable lines like “Say hello to my little friend” and “I always tell the truth. Even when I lie”.
A brilliant gangster film it might be, but it certainly wasn’t enough to get the Oscars to consider it for any awards, and Pacino certainly wasn’t happy about this snub. Instead, it was a very British year for ‘Best Actor’ nominations, with Tom Courtenay and Albert Finney both recognised for The Dresser, while Tom Conti was nominated for Reuben, Reuben and Michael Caine earned a nod for Educating Rita. Yet, it was American star Robert Duvall who earned the award for his performance in Tender Mercies.
While Pacino earned a Golden Globe nomination for Scarface, he lost out to Courtenay and Duvall, who both won for their respective performances that year. It seems that Scarface divided critics upon its release, despite the status it holds these days, and De Palma was even met with a Golden Raspberry nomination for ‘Worst Director’.
Talking to BBC Today, Pacino revealed his disappointment regarding his lack of recognition for Scarface, saying, “I would have liked to have even got nominated for that one”.
While winning an Oscar is quite the notch in the belt of stellar performers, Pacino will remain iconic for his role in Scarface, regardless of the golden statue turning its face to his brilliance.
