There is no arguing about the fact that Al Pacino is considered one of the greatest actors in the whole film industry. Born in a small town in New York, Pacino struggled through his initial years but finally reached a destination where only a few actors have managed to reach. Despite the fact that his core self is quite a bit different from the face the world generally sees, Al Pacino has had a strong desire to be seen and recognized, to be acknowledged, and to have a significant influence on people in his environment.
Al Pacino has been a "busy bee" throughout his life- energetic, restless, and forever on the go. His active mind has always been buzzing with ideas and these have made it difficult for him to relax, slow down, or take time to reflect and replenish him. He can accomplish much in short bursts but projects that require long-term commitment, stamina, and steady, persistent effort are not easy for Pacino. Pacino has often scattered his energies into so many directions and activities at once that he could not finish or follow through on some of them. He needs variety, change, and mental challenges and this fact is quite visible from his ongoing theater work. Nothing thrills Al Pacino like acting on a stage. Performing in front of an audience gives him a pleasure so powerful, so visceral that to describe it, he returns over and over again to a quote from Carl Walenda: "Life is on the wire and the rest is just waiting."
Lance Henriksen has appeared on stage with Pacino several times, including Pacino's 1977 Tony-winning turn in David Rabe's "The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel." Henriksen especially remembers one night when they were performing Shakespeare's Richard III. "We were in a church and right in the middle of one of the scenes a bat flew through the church. He looked up and right in character said 'That's a bat.' He's doing Shakespeare, but he's so present when he's working."
Pacino is a great movie star, but it is theatre that really consumes him. He was already a veteran New York stage actor when at age 28 he won a 1968 Obie for "The Indian Wants the Bronx." The following year, he won his first Tony, as Supporting Actor, for "Does the Tiger Wear a Necktie?" He calls acting in front an audience "the best experience a young actor can have" and keeps returning to that experience himself. He also likes to return to the same role. "He'll literally work on a character for five years," says Henriksen. "He'll go at it and never give it up. He's tenacious."
"I don't know why I do that," admits Pacino, but he offers that "Traditionally, actors of the past would have one or two roles and spend their lifetimes playing them. I think there was something to that tradition." He also compares acting in a great play to a musician playing Bach or Beethoven. "You don't leave the composer just because you've performed him once, you know? You do it again and again, that's part of your life."
Al doesn't know how to fake anything, so you're going to get a reality that's going to come from the deepest part of his being. If it doesn't involve all of him he doesn't know what to do with it, and that's very rare. Also, because his sense of truth is inviolate, it affects everything else in the script and makes everyone better.
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