Al Pacino has been a legend in the film industry since 1968 and now gives back to the acting community as co-president of the Actors Studio on the West Side of Manhattan. His breakout role came in 1972 when he starred as Michael Corleone in The Godfather, a movie he says he didn’t watch for nearly three decades.
“I saw this film recently, it’s why I can remember it. For 25 years I didn’t look at it. I didn’t see it,” Pacino said of his classic film The Godfather in which he starred with Marlon Brando.
Speaking with Ben Mankiewicz of CBS, Pacino talks about the Actors Studio and what it means to all the other legends who have worked out their craft there. Oscar-winner Ellen Burstyn is co-president along with Pacino and those walls that were once a church have seen such greats as James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Jack Nicholson, Paul Newman, Sidney Poitier, James Baldwin, Sally Field, and yes, even the late Marlon Brando who played Don Vito Corleone.
What they’re talking about is an acting technique called “the method.” Robert De Niro became an actual cab driver to prepare for his role in Taxi Driver. Remaining in character long after the scene is over is only one way to describe the method. To Burstyn, it’s “training the senses to respond to imaginary stimuli.”
Pacino reveals to Mankiewicz, “The secret is the giveaways. When the guy is shaking, and [Michael] just lights the cigarette, and he is aware enough to discover that he’s not shaking.”
Mankiewicz laughs that Pacino feels like he has to explain how he knows The Godfather so well. Whatever method Pacino’s been using has worked for him his entire career as he gave us such greats as Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Scarface, Scent of a Woman, Carlito’s Way, Any Given Sunday, and The Irishman. It’s hard to pick out just a few from his long list of hit films.
It might be narcissistic or egotistical to want to check out their own work after they’ve finished it, but it’s human nature and most anyone would watch their own films. How Pacino avoided watching it for 25 years speaks volumes about how seriously he takes his craft. All of the awards he has collected along the way certainly help.