‘Scent of a Woman’: The only Oscar that Al Pacino has ever won
For most actors, the highest accolade comes from winning an Academy Award. Although some artists prefer to leave their best material on the stage, there are occasionally actors that can please both sides of the screen, with critics and modern cinema fans alike adoring what they brought to their performance. Even though Al Pacino has been entertaining audiences for decades, there is only one time he won an Oscar.
Then again, Pacino had his legacy secure long before he got his award. First coming onto the scene as a dramatic actor, his stunning roles in The Godfather and Scarface drastically impacted what film lovers were used to seeing, known for depicting violence in graphic detail unlike anything else in cinema.
Although The Godfather series would get its fair share of recognition by the Academy, none were directed towards Pacino’s performance, with the wins that night going to the film rather than the lead actor. While Pacino would go on to top his performance as Michael Corleone in the sequel, he still was never able to nab the trophy.
Then again, Pacino wasn’t known to be as receptive to the Oscars as other actors. Despite losing to his co-star Marlon Brando for the first Godfather film, Brando was not keen to accept his award in person. Speaking out against the mistreatment of Native Americans at the time, Brando instead sent Native American actress Sacheen Littlefeather to the ceremony to speak on his behalf.
Once Pacino started to hone his acting craft, though, it looked like his time for an Oscar was drying up. When he got the script for 1993’s Scent of a Woman, Pacino would finally get the hallowed award that most actors were dreaming of.
Telling the story of an ageing blind man, Pacino delivers one of his most emotionally earnest roles as retired lieutenant Frank Slade, working alongside Chris O’Donnell’s Charlie Simms as he tries to get on the path to becoming a better man. Even though the movie would not end up being one of the most essential parts of Pacino’s film career, the thoughtful look into one man’s life was enough for The Academy to give him his just due.
Pacino would eventually take home the award for ‘Best Actor’ that night, marking the first time he had ever found his way to the Oscars stage after two decades of making films. Although Pacino wouldn’t get this kind of recognition from the institution ever again, he was still on the road to making even more daring adventures later in his career.
Though there have been more than a few stumbling blocks along the way, like Jack and Jill, Pacino has been more than happy to work with whatever massive movie he believes he could add something, whether that be the slimy agent in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood or his solemn take on John Gotti in The Irishman. Regardless of the amount of Oscars he has to put on the mantle shelf, Pacino is more than satisfied to keep making films for as long as people enjoy watching them.
