Al Pacino

1979 Getting to Know You This first interview, over forty hours of taped conversation, turned into two thousand transcribed pages -- a lot of talk for a man who was known for his public silence and mystery. "I feel like I have played ball with you," Pacino said as I turned off the tape recorder after our final session in his New York apartment. "Like we know the same candy store or we remember that time when we opened a hydrant or something. It's a good feeling." I smiled and nodded. That wasexactlyhow I felt about him. And I think some of that good feeling comes through in the interview. AL PACINO: Actually, I'd rather you not put the tape on yet -- until I get a little bit warmed up here. Brando had the same reluctance at first. He wanted to talk, but without the tape recorders on. That reminds me of me. It's best to just leave them on and forget about them. Whatever you say. I'm not going to tell you how to do your job. This is so new to me. Do you feel like this is a coming out for you? Definitely. It is a huge thing, this interview. There's a certain power in these interviews that I haven't found in profiles -- a real power. Like what you did with Marlon Brando. It can be taken seriously. I don't know thatIcan be yet, because I haven't accomplished enough things in my life. After a lifetime of avoiding the press, what made you finally decide to talk? I sort of got tired of saying no, because it gets misread. The reason I haven't talked before was that I just didn't think that I would be able to do it. But after a while you just start to feel like, Why not? I'm tired of being too careful, too protective. Actually, look what yes has done to me. I said yes toRichard IIIand toCruising. No wonder I said no for so many years! [Laughs] Want to change your mind? No, let me try yeses for a while. It's time. Do you care how you come off in this? As much as I want to do well in a part, I want to be interesting in an interview. Good. Hopefully, by the time we're through, we'll have explored some of the public and private sides that make you who you are. But isn't what I do also who I am? I mean, my work is very consuming; who I am is my work, too. Part of who you are. We'll get into that. But first, I'm curious: Why do you have Candice Bergen's name on your apartment door and another name on the directory downstairs? For the obvious reasons -- to avoid being hassled. She used to live in this apartment, but it doesn't say Candice Bergen, it says C. Bergen. On the directory I had Goldman for a while, but then a guy named Goldman came in and said, "Stop using my name." How many people in this building know you live here? Everybody in the building knows. They are very considerate. From the looks of things in this apartment, it doesn't appear that your star status has gone to your head. My lifestyle changes a lot. I've been here five years, but it's like I'm passing through. On your way to Bombay you stop here, stay over, and then you keep going. This is the kind of place I have. It's always been that way. I look around at places I think I should be living in, then I come back and move the couch or the piano and I'm satisfied. Let's go back and look at the place you came from. I come from the South Bronx -- a true descendant of the melting pot. I grew up in a really mixed neighborhood; it was a very integrated life. There were certain tensions that usually had to do with one's income situation. Being an only child, I had difficulty with competition. I wasn't allowed out until I went to school at about six; that's when I started to integrate with other kids. I was very shy. It wasn't very pleasant going to school at that age and having the feeling that you might get beat up any day. I think a lot of kids suffer from that kind of tensioGrobel, Lawrence is the author of 'Al Pacino', published 2008 under ISBN 9781416955566 and ISBN 1416955569.