Al Pacino On David Letterman - August 21st, 2002 David Letterman: Our first guest is an Academy Award-winning actor staring in the new motion picture entitled ‘Simone’. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Al Pacino. Al Pacino kids, there you go. ( !!Wild Applause from the crowd!! ) Al: Well, gee…ah (As the audience continues their nearly minute long ovation) Dave: How ya doing? Al: Well…hello Dude. (Dave laughs) Everyone told me to say that. I got that from someone. Dave: Hey, you know I was not expecting…normally I don’t think I remember you having blonde hair. And it looks…it looks… Al: How’d that happen? (Laugh from audience) Dave: Yeah, how did that happen? Is that… Off Stage Mystery Voice: (could be Dave’s band leader) It wasn’t me. Al: Well, it’s the thing with actors, you know, we always change our thing…and sometimes we change our hair. And I was, um, in this part and it called for gray hair. And my hair – believe it or not – isn’t normally gray…except for the sideburns. So now it’s blonde, and gray, but the roots are black. So, you know…it’s totally out of control. (Big laugh from audience). Dave: You know, it doesn’t…doesn’t…I’m not saying it looks bad, it’s just different. Unusual. Al: It’s different, yeah. But, a lot of people with it I think though…I’ve been seeing…at least, that I’m starting to notice… Dave: Yeah, so are you just going to let it go now? Because there’s probably not much you can do with it. Al: We’ll let it go, yeah. Dave: Just let it go… Al: Let it live it’s own…take it’s…follow it’s own course. (Big audience laughter) Dave: Do you…do you remember…Now I know that I have not seen you on many television shows, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you…I know that I’ve never seen you on this show. (Big audience laughter) But… Al: But I saw you…I think I saw you on an airplane once. Dave: That’s exactly right. That’s, that’s a long, long time ago. We were flying east I believe. Al: Yeah. Dave: Yeah, but you must have done them before. What was your first television talk show experience? How old were you? What were the circumstances? What was the show? Al: That was a long time ago which was why I…it’s about thirty years… Dave: Thirty years? Al: Or more. Dave: Yeah, you do one every thirty years or so? Al: Every thirty…well let’s…we’ll see after this one. (Big audience laughter) So far so good right? Dave: Doing all right, so far? Good, good. Al: Yeah, well I was on this show…I could mention it was the Merv Griffith Show…but…but…I don’t know if my story about it is as accurate as what happened, as what really happened. But (Al laughs) You know how it is when you tell the story and you think about it years later, it’s sort of…So I went out (Audience laughs as Al awkwardly gears the subject back to his story) Um, I went out, and I was just announced…and in those days I hadn’t made a movie, and not many people knew who I was. I did a Broadway show, and so…um, there was an applause sign. The audience applauded to be polite, and I came on. But I wasn’t used to it because I though the were applauding…and they don’t know me but I was still into the theater bow, so I…I bowed as though I was doing…you know I had just finished Hamlet…and I came out, you know, and… (Big audience laughter) Dave: Well, that’s nice. Al: Only I was down there too long, you know. I… Dave: Well, wait. How long were you down there? Al: Well, they stopped applauding, and I was still down there. (More Audience Laughter) And, uh, I got up slowly because I knew when I did it, I thought, ‘What are you doing? They’re here, they’re not applauding. How are you going to get up now?’ You know? (Big audience laughter) So I got up finally, and Merv Griffith he…he’s a great…was a great talk show…He still does it, does he? (Al asks Dave in the cutest way) Dave: No, I think he’s retired. (Big audience laughter) Al: There it is folks, I’ve out lived him, right? (More audience laughter) Dave: Do you know who Vin Diesel is? (Audience laughs) Al: I do actually, I do. Dave: Well, see, I didn’t know that. Al: He’s not blonde. So, anyway I got on the show and…and he asked me a few questions and, it’s all a blur but…Do you remember the late, great Anthony Newly? Dave: Mmmhmm. Al: He did so…He, he protected me in a way, took me in. He covered for me cause I was…cause Merv Griffith asked me how did I get from the Bronx to Broadway, cause I was from…And I said I walked. (Big audience laughter) Dave: That’s all right. Al: I…I thought that was funny. Dave: It is funny. Al: It’s funny. Dave: Now I’m looking over your filmography – that’s a list of your work. (Audience laughs) and uh, this is unbelievable to me that the second motion picture – and tell me if this is not correct – the second motion picture that you made was the Godfather. Is that true, is that how that actually worked? (Audience applauds) Al: That’s true. Dave: Did you…did you have trouble getting that part? And once you had it, what was that experience like for certainly a beginner working with the big stars? Al: Oh yeah, there was so much controversy over the casting of the picture, of the different parts, and uh…I never thought I would be cast in it. Because I knew Francis Coppola, he wanted me for another movie, and he, uh…And then he asked me to be in this picture. And I thought, ‘This is the wrong part for me…Michael. I would have preferred Sonny.’ But there I was, I was choosing the parts. But, um, it was wonderful to be offered that. I was shocked by it, and, then the trouble started. (Dave laughs) Because after that nobody wanted me. Dave: Really? Al: And, you know…you mentioned Scarecrow, and one of my favorite directors – Jerry Schatzberg – directed that. And he also directed a movie called Panic in Needle Park. That was my first picture. Dave: Right, right. (Audience applauds) Al: Thank you. Um, but Panic in Needle Park was…was…um…they…they finally took eight minutes, an eight minute reel from that picture and showed it to Paramount. And, and I think that’s what got me the role finally. Dave: Yeah. Now, was there a moment when you’re confronted with the cast, and…and you realize, ‘Oh my God, not only does everyone else think that I’m in over my head, maybe I am in over my head?’ Were you intimidated by people that you worked with there? Al: Totally, all the time. Dave: Yeah? Al: For the whole picture, practically. And still am. (Big audience laughter) But, uh…the, the idea of doing it…was an interesting thing happened when we all got together for the first time. Marlon Brando, who’s such an icon and an idol of all of us, and…and the greatest actor in the world. Well, when he and all of us got together…Francis Coppola liked everyone to eat, and go out and have dinner, and he though that if we were together in that environment we would get to know each other. And what was interesting about it, we went in Harlem and we had an Italian dinner, and we were all there – Brando, Jimmy Caan, Robert Duvall, and my dear friend the late John Cazale, who played Fredo. A great actor you know. (Long audience applaud) And, so we would have our dinner, and, uh, then it…actors are funny that way, we would start going into our characters, and everyone was behaving like the characters in the movie. But we were just getting together, you know? I became introverted, and kind of sullen…It was a comfortable thing to be, I mean. I didn’t have to talk or anything. (Big, big laughter from everyone) Dave: Take a bow! We’ll be right back with Al Pacino everybody. *COMERCIAL* Dave: Yes sir, Al Pacino ladies and gentlemen. Thank you Paul. Now this movie Simone is fantastic, by the way. Very entertaining, very funny, and very strange film. Al: Yes. Dave: And part of it is a dynamic of the relationship between a director and a star who is difficult or who may be perceived to be difficult. Al: Yes. Dave: Now when you were working early on with Francis Ford Coppola, did you have any of those moments when he was asking things that maybe you couldn’t deliver on, or a misunderstanding on performance or what was being requested? Any moments like that come to mind early in your career? Al: Well…aw…yeah…gee. There’s a few. And I think the one that’s most outstanding with Francis, if I can remember it, was…it’s…I hope it’s not too long, but it’s… Dave: Take your time Al. (Big audience laughter) Al: Ah…gee…I know. You don’t kill time, it kills you, right? (Big audience laughter) There was this scene in Godfather One, if anybody remembers it, when Michael, young Michael, gets married in Sicily, and he has to pass around…uh…candies…it’s a tradition, an Italian tradition. And then Francis says, ‘Okay Al, here’s the thing. You pass around the candy, you go to the different people, and then you um, you take the girl – who’s your wife – and you waltz, you do a waltz…then you go off in the car.’ So I thought okay…I said, ‘Francis, you say you want me to talk in Italian to these people as I’m passing the candy…I, I don’t speak Italian.’ (Big audience laughter) And he says, ‘ Well, it doesn’t matter. Just say anything, whatever. Double talk, you know, whatever, cause I’m way up with the camera. We’ll get it later. You know, don’t worry about it. Just waltz around with the girl.’ So I said, ‘Francis, I don’t waltz. I don’t know how to waltz.’ (Big audience laughter) He’s looking at me, he said, ‘Do something! Move with the girl, it doesn’t matter. Just move around. Hold her…you walk around, you’ve got…just do a thing, spin her around a couple of times. I’ve got the camera up there, doesn’t matter. Get in the car, and take off.’ I said, ‘Francis I don’t drive!’ (Big audience laughter) ‘Why did I pick him? Why him?’ Dave: Speaking of driving, I was looking at this list of stuff – 1977, Bobby Deerfield, ‘Great racing movie.’ Don’t you think? Al: Well, yeah, I mean I like it but…ah (Big audience laughter) I liked part, there’s some parts in it that were quite good. Sidney Pollack directed that. Dave: Yeah Al: And he did Tootsie, and ah, that wonderful movie with Meryl Streep Out Of Africa. He’s a great director. Dave: Tell us stories about working in live theater. Al: Well, there’s so many…I have stories…(Big audience laughter) I just happen to know about this one thing. I have a story. Theater is what I do most of the time, believe it or not. Dave: Really, is that your preference, honestly? Al: Well, it’s what I started with. And I think that I have more of a feeling about it someway, I feel more at home when I’m doing it. Dave: Money’s a little different though, isn’t it? Al: Yeah. (Big audience laughter) That’s why I can afford to do it now. (Big audience laughter) I…I was in a play once in, it was in Boston; it was called The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel. Eventually I came to New York and did it. (Applause) Thank you. Many years ago, and…But during a performance in Boston, it just gives you an idea of what happens on stage sometimes. The kind of relationship you have with the audience. Because you get really intense about it, and you start to connect in ways you just don’t understand, I mean. So one night I was doing the play, and I had this feeling, it...it was a feeling that I’d never had before. I was connecting to someone in that audience, and it was like ah, the eyes were like, were riveted to me. And I felt…I was drawn to it the whole time. Dave: So you’re making contact to someone’s eyes in the audience? Al: It’s not…yes, it’s a feeling you get. Dave: It’s like being in…athletes talk about being in the zone. Al: You’re in the zone with that person. That you’re just…And finally I started playing the whole play…it was, it was at just such a degree that I had to look out at the end of the play and look into the area that was giving me so much…so much vibe. So I went…I couldn’t wait for the curtain call to come. And finally it comes and it’s the end of the play, and we come out and take our bows. And the first thing I do is I look over directly to where these eyes were. And they were two seeing-eye dogs. (Big audience laughter) Dave: Well that’s silly. Al: It’s an illusion, you know? Dave: That’s not right. Now, um I think we have some videotape of you at a baseball game. Al: Oh geez. Dave: I think it’s 1997, that’s what I’m guessing. Does that ring a bell? Al: Oh yes it does. A loud bell in my inner ear. Dave: Should we talk about it first? Should we look at the videotape first and then talk about it, or talk about it then look at it? Al: Maybe I should talk about it first. Dave: Okay, let’s tell people what this was. This was a Yankee game, right? Al: I’m doing an inordinate amount of talking though, aren’t I here? Dave: Well it’s a talk show. Al: There it is. Well, there it is. (Big audience laughter) Dave: That’s the idea. You fit right in. Al: Who am I kidding? This is where I belong. (Big audience laughter) Anyway, one day I’m going to the baseball game… Dave: You a big sports fan? Al: Well I like sports a lot. I…I enjoy the games, I love baseball and all of them. It’s great to watch the athletes…amazing. So occasionally I go, and I like to go to practice before the game starts so you can just…you see them, just milling around the field – and then the game starts. But I had an appointment that day, and I got this impulse to go to the game, and I thought I’d go to the game. And I was with my girlfriend Beverly D’Angelo and um, we went to the…(Some people in the audience applaud for Beverly, and Al laughs and claps himself. Dave also claps.) So we went to the game, and I thought, as an after thought…this is my, sometimes my reality…it’s…I’m thinking, ‘You know I’ve got to leave early, about the second or third inning, they’re going to get upset because…You know, you remember that Jack Benny movie To Be Or Not To Be where, every time he’s playing Hamlet he gets to be, he gets to say ‘To be or not to be’, somebody gets up in the third row and leaves, and he just watches them as they go? He’s right in the middle of this soliloquy, and…Well I thought if I get up in the middle of the game… Dave: It’s inconsiderate. Al: It’s inconsiderate. Dave: A big star, leaving the ball game. It doesn’t look good. Al: That’s right, he walked out on us. What’s up? Dave: Exactly. (Big audience laughter) Al: So, ah…I was thinking it was a Broadway show or something. So anyway I go in and I said, ‘You know I happen to have a spare beard in the car.’ Go figure that. (Big audience laughter) In case I get hungry, you know? So, ah, I put the beard on, and it’s like the Smith Brothers kind of beard. I got a baseball cap and some eyeglasses. Well, I might of known something’s wrong because as I was going to my seat with this, I pass someone who said, ‘Hi Al.’ Dave: Yeah, you know. Al: So I was off and running with that. I thought this is someone else he was talking to. Not to mention I’m with Beverly D’Angelo. (Big audience laughter) Dave: None of it makes any sense. Al: Well I’m sitting down and watching them practice, and at one time my chin started to itch a little bit so I lifted up the bear and went under (Big audience laughter) But I’m so sure of myself, you know what I mean, no one is going to know. And, ah, Beverly’s there, and I’m not putting two and two together – yet. Until I look out into the field and for some reason the cameras that were on the players, are now switched and turned around on me. (Big audience laughter) So, ah, I wound up being on the eleven o’clock news, I was on highlights…at the end of the year they showed it as special crazy things that happened, and it was me with a beard. Dave: Crazy things that happened? Al: Crazy things. Dave: Well, you must have felt like a dope, for heaven’s sakes! (Big audience laughter) Did you? Al: I…I still do. Still do. That beard has been retired into the museum of mistakes. Dave: If you don’t mind, let’s take a look… Al: No, I don’t mind. Dave: So this is the day of the ball game of 1997 at Yankee stadium. Al Pacino, or at least we think it’s Al Pacino. Man of mystery. *CLIP of Al sitting hunched over with his disguise on looking out at the field, with Beverly at his side. * (HUGE laughter at the picture) Dave: What’s the matter with you? Excellent idea. Oh my God. Al: (Al’s face is buried in his hands as he is laughing so hard) I love the touch of gray, don’t you? Dave: Very nice. Al: I was cold, that’s what I thought. Dave: We want to, we want to talk about Simone, ah, it opens Friday, August 23. It’s just wonderful, very entertaining. Al: Ah, thank you. Dave: And can you tell people what this is in a…is there any way to explain the premise really? Al: (Shakes his head) No. Dave: It’s you working with a synthesized star. Al: That’s it. It’s, it’s a guy who’s run out of tricks and he can’t get a job anymore in Hollywood, and his wife – his ex-wife – run’s the studio, and she gave him a chance and he blew it. And Winona Ryder plays the starlet who is very uppity and she leaves the picture, and now he’s left without anything. So he invents…he gets a formula from some wild, crazy guy…and he puts it on and he invents this virtual actress. An actress who’s made out of pixels and um… Dave: Then the fun begins, as we say. Al: Let’s hope. Dave: All right we have a clip here. Do you know what this is? Al: Oh no, I can tell you the clip. I know the clip. (Big audience laughter) Dave: Okay, good. Al: This girl, Rebecca Stamos, she plays Simone’s body double, and she’s standing in for Simone because everybody things that Simone is real, and she’s not, and I’m making this girl into Simone – like she’s hiding. But she’s supposed to be Simone. And I rush her out and put her in a car and we go to my house. And, she sort of likes Simone. So, you’ll see that. Dave: Okay, but this is not Simone, this is someone pretending to be Simone? She’s Simone’s double? Al: She is what…I want her to be the double. I want people to think that’s Simone – that she really exists, cause she runs into a car, but she covers her face, like that. Dave: It’s the old bait and switch. Al: Bait and switch, yeah. Dave: It’s called Simone, it opens Friday. Take a look. Here we go. *CLIP of Simone * (Rebecca Romijn Stamos and Al are kissing on a bed) Rebecca: This is so exciting. Al: Yes. Rebecca: Do what you do to Simone. Al: What? What’d you say? Rebecca: I said do whatever you do to Simone. Al: What I do to Simone? Rebecca: Ohh, call me Simone. Al: Simone. Rebecca: Yes, say it again please! I want to know what it’s like to be her just for one night. Please call me Simone. Al: You’re with me, so you can be close to her? Rebecca: Is that a problem? *END CLIP * (Big audience laughter) Dave: That is some clip! My God. That’s unbelievable. Al: It was a little long, I thought. Dave: That acting is hard work, isn’t it Al? Having a beautiful woman on top of you for 20 minutes? Al: That really hurt. It really did. (Big audience laughter) Dave: Anyway, it’s great fun, and it opens August 23rd. What are you going to do now? Do you have some time off, going to hang around? What’s going on? Al: Wow. That’s an incredible question. (Big audience laughter) Now, I’ll probably…I’ve continuing in the theater, ah you know, I’ve got some plans to do some theater down town. Dave: But I meant like tonight. Are you going to go home and have dinner? Al: Oh tonight, you know, I’ll probably…No I’ve got some, actually I have to go do some dubbing. I have to go to work. Dave: All right, good to see you. Good luck with your hair. Al: Thanks. Dave: Al Pacino everybody!