Inside The Connection Between Al Pacino’s Behavior At The 2024 Oscars And His Health Issues

Highlights

• Al Pacino’s history of alcohol abuse disorder was reflected in his concerning behavior at the 2024 Oscars.
• Pacino credits mentors for helping him overcome addiction, despite struggles with drinking and fame.
• Pacino’s odd behavior at the Oscars wasn’t entirely his fault, as he was instructed not to read nominee names.

Once a person becomes as famous as Al Pacino, it can be easy to assume that life has been easy for them. In reality, however, many celebrities have struggled, including John Lennon, who was once kicked out of a club for starting fights while intoxicated.

Similar to Lennon, Pacino has gone through hard times, including when he spent some time behind bars. Following the 2024 Oscars, some viewers believed that Pacino had fallen on hard times and was intoxicated at the event. Those headlines are fascinating considering Pacino’s struggles with addiction.

This article will reveal Pacino’s real-life struggles with alcohol abuse disorder. Following that, the article will look at why Pacino acted strangely while presenting the Best Picture award at the 2024 Oscars.

Fans Concern About Al Pacino At The Oscars Reflected His History Of Alcohol Abuse Disorder

During the 2024 Academy Awards, Al Pacino was tapped to present the top prize of the night, Best Picture. Sadly, the night would end in controversy for Pacino as many viewers were left questioning if he was intoxicated while presenting.

As it turns out, the night of the 2024 Oscars wasn’t the first time people have questioned Al Pacino’s alcohol consumption. In 2020, The Independent published a profile on Pacino with a focus on his past alcohol abuse.

In 2013, The West Australian quoted Al Pacino talking to The Sun about how he dealt with fame. According to Pacino,
he turned to alcohol after struggling to deal with the pressures of fame
. “I hope people at a young age have a support system in their life that enables them to deal with fame. But I did not have that kind of equipment. I started drinking more and more.”

According to a Playboy interview cited by The Independent for its piece, Pacino told the publication that his mentor Charlie Laughton saved his life. “It was a powerful moment in my life… I wouldn’t have made it without Charlie.”

During a separate Larry King interview, Pacino elaborated on how Laughton saved him at the height of his dependency. As Pacino explained it, his love for drinking took over his passion for his craft.

“As they used to say to Laurence Olivier, Sir Laurence Olivier, what’s your, what’s your favorite part of acting? He’d say, ‘The drink after the show.’ That’s his favorite part. So it was part of a world and then, when it started to replace. When the cart was in front of the horse and it, sort of, replaced the work and all other parts.”

While Pacino now recognizes his drinking had become a problem, it was Laughton who convinced him to give up his addiction for the first time.

“I was, I was, you know, reluctant to stop, but my great friend Charlie Laughton, we’ve talked about so many times… He was a real influence over me because he was my mentor, my closest friend. Really, begged me to stop for a while. Just to take a look at it and ask me if I, cause he had stopped for about a year and I was continuing and he was quite worried about me.”

During the aforementioned Playboy interview, Pacino stated that he has been sober since 1977. However, when Pacino spoke to Larry King, he admitted that he took a while to break free of his addiction.

According to Pacino, his former Dog Day Afternoon director also played a role in him getting sober. While intoxicated, Pacino passed on the project but Sidney Lumet convinced him to sober up for a couple of days and read Dog Day Afternoon’s script again. Once Pacino did that, he was stunned that he came so close to passing on the classic movie.

Despite Lumet and Laughton getting him to briefly sober up on different occasions, he didn’t give up drinking completely after either of their efforts. Instead, Pacino explained to Larry King that it was a process.

“I didn’t just stop dead on. It’s a gradation. You know? You, you gradate from one stage to another and then it takes a while to even, you know. Like guys, they often say, unscramble your brains. You know, You have a certain period of time and then, slowly, I got to understand what it was.”

On top of revealing he has been sober since 1977, Pacino has also been open about his other mental health struggles. While speaking at the Venice Film Festival in 2014, Pacino revealed that he suffers from depression and how sad and terrifying that can be. Pacino made these comments while remarking that he feels fortunate that his depression has never gotten as bad as Robin Wlliams’ was before his tragic passing.

“I may be depressed but I don’t know about it. People go into depression and it’s very, very sad and it can last and it’s terrifying. I know that, I’ve had bouts with stuff that comes close to that, but not with that intensity. I feel spared, I feel lucky.”

Al Pacino’s Strange Behavior During The 2024 Oscars Doesn’t Seem To Be His Fault

After Al Pacino left the Oscars stage in 2024, it was easy to see why some people may have thought he might have been intoxicated.

While onstage, Pacino seemed to forget to read the names of the movie producers who were nominated for Best Picture. If that wasn’t enough, instead of saying who won with the usual preamble of, “And the Oscar goes too…”, Pacino said, “And my eyes see Oppenheimer.”

Pacino’s choice of words was so odd that the Oscars host, Jimmy Kimmel, mocked him the next morning. While appearing on Live with Kelly and Mark, Kimmel remarked, “It seems like everyone in America knows the rhythm of how it’s supposed to go, down to ‘And the Oscar goes to…’ but not Al.”

What are Al Pacino’s best Oscar-nominated roles, according to Collider?

As it turns out, there are several reasons why Pacino came off so strange during The Oscars that weren’t in his control. First off, the original plans called for Pacino’s Scarface co-star, Michelle Pfeiffer, to present the award with him. However, Pfeiffer pulled out shortly before the ceremony due to a conflict. After expecting to not be alone that easily could have thrown Pacino off.

More importantly, it later came out that Pacino was instructed not to read the nominees’ names by the show’s producer, Molly McNearney. Pacino was so upset people thought he had unilaterally decided to ignore the artists behind the Best Picture nominees that he released a statement.

“I just want to be clear it was not my intention to omit them, rather a choice by the producers not to have them said again since they were highlighted individually throughout the ceremony.”

Pacino continued, “I realize being nominated is a huge milestone in one’s life and to not be fully recognized is offensive and hurtful. I say this as someone who profoundly relates with filmmakers, actors and producers so I deeply empathize with those who have been slighted by this oversight and it’s why I felt it necessary to make this statement.”

McNearney, who is Jimmy Kimmel’s wife, apologized publicly to Pacino for that decision which got him so much blowback. “I apologize if our decision to not have to read through all those nominations put him in a tough spot.”

Source: NewsFinale