Warner Bros.
Al Pacino is — thanks to films such as The Godfather trilogy, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Scarface, Heat, Glengarry Glen Ross, Scent of a Woman, Donnie Brasco, The Devil’s Advocate, The Insider, Any Given Sunday, and many more — arguably the greatest American actor of all time.
Part of what makes Al Pacino such an iconic actor is his famed explosiveness, which he can ramp up at any given moment to entirely steal a scene if not the whole film itself.
Given the type of performances he’s given over the years and his beloved role as Tony Montana in Brian de Palma’s Scarface, it’s long been jokingly assumed (whether that be subconsciously or otherwise) that perhaps Pacino has partaken in the illicit substance, cocaine, that famously ratchets up peoples’ heart rate, speed of speaking, energy, irritability, and so on.
The now 84-year-old Pacino, however — speaking at a recent Q&A event for his film The Panic in Needle Park, which showcases a much different type of drug use than the likes of Scarface — recently revealed that he has “never” done cocaine.
Even forgetting the nature of Pacino’s characters and performances, the idea that he was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood and New York City in the 1980s and STILL never tried it is astounding. Maybe his role in The Panic in Needle Park, a movie about a pair of heroin addicts who fall in love, scared him off.
The Panic in Needle Park, released in 1971, was just Pacino’s second film. His third was The Godfather.
Despite being in the business for over 50 years, Pacino remains active as he recently starred in films such as House of Gucci in 2021 and Knox Goes Away in 2023. He also has upcoming roles in the films Modi, Billy Knight, In the Hand of Dante, Killing Castro, The Ritual, and Easy’s Waltz.