Long before The Godfather made themes of loyalty and betrayal a gold standard in cinema, Al Pacino learned a valuable lesson about the code of silence when he was just six years old.
In his new memoir, Sonny Boy, released Oct. 15 by Penguin Press, Pacino recalls returning home to the tenement apartment in New York’s South Bronx where he lived with his mother and grandparents. I am doing it. He told his grandfather about how he made fun of his misbehaving classmates.
“So you’re a rat, aren’t you?” his grandfather asked as Pacino slid to the floor in embarrassment. Later, Pacino wrote: “I never criticized anyone again in my life.”
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But Pacino has plenty to say about himself in his long-awaited memoir. The book tracks his growth from humble beginnings to Oscar-winning iconography, and includes family tragedies, huge success, and struggles with addiction, all of which went on to fill several Hollywood scripts. Contains plenty of drama.
“It was a deadline,” he tells PEOPLE of his decision to write a memoir. “I’m 85 years old. When you get there and start feeling old, you understand why they downplay things.”
The Scarface actor, who is famous for his private life, named the book after the nickname his mother Rose gave him as a child after the Al Jolson song of the same name, but he also shared the book with his loved ones, including his four children Julie. He says he wanted to leave a record. 34-year-old (with acting coach Jean Tarrant), 23-year-old twins Anton and Olivia (with actress Beverly D’Angelo), and 16-month-old Roman (with producer Noor Alfallah).
Pacino says: “I’ve had a pretty great life, at least according to me.”
Pacino speaks in a slightly raspy voice. In his late 70s, he underwent surgery on his carotid artery and damaged one of his vocal cords.
And while his voice (still recognizable as the one that screamed “hoo” in Scent of a Woman) may not be as strong as it once was, Pacino’s memory is still razor-like. vividly, remembering childhood friends, family stories, and old stories. Hollywood during an hour-long conversation.
His wayward childhood, when his father, Salvatore Pacino, was a World War II soldier and insurance salesman, and his mother, who worked in a factory, had just divorced, was “a crucial moment” in his life. He says it was time.
When Pacino was a boy, Rose struggled with his mental health and attempted suicide, but as her guardian, she forbade her only son from going out at night while he was in trouble.
With her guidance, Pacino started on the path to success. He attended a performing arts high school and became a voracious reader.
After dropping out as a teenager to support Rose and working odd jobs that didn’t last long, the aspiring actor established himself in New York’s theater scene, where he honed his craft and became a future like Martin Sheen (his former roommate). Pacino even cleaned toilets at a downtown theater with Pacino, who met the stars of the movie.) “There was freedom,” Pacino recalls. “Manhattan was shining in the 1960s.”
Professionally speaking, the next decade will be even better for Pacino. Pacino was far from a household name when Francis Ford Coppola saw him on stage and cast him in the role of Michael Corleone in the 1972 classic gangster film The Godfather.
“They didn’t want me,” he says of studio executives who favored Warren Beatty and Robert Redford. “That was old Hollywood, or at least the old Hollywood where I came from. But Frances really wanted me.”
As his profile grew thanks to films like Serpico, so did his reputation as a too-cool-for-school snob who skipped award shows and ignored press opportunities.
The truth is that he struggled to cope with the harsh spotlight of fame and turned to booze and drugs to cope. “Ever since I was young, I’ve been forgetful. I used to call it a blackout, so it made me anxious,” Pacino, who has been sober for decades, says of his decision to quit smoking.
“I went to AA for a while. It’s a great place, but it wasn’t for me,” Pacino says. His mentor and friend Charlie Laughton served as a sponsor of sorts. “It helped me.”
His journey to sobriety is just one of the many deeply personal anecdotes Pacino includes in Sonny Boy. “I’m surprised I actually said some of the things I said,” Pacino admits.
He also writes about his near-death experience with COVID-19 at the height of the pandemic, before a vaccine was available.
“When I passed out and opened my eyes, there were six paramedics in the living room,” he said. “There was no pulse. Everyone thought I was dead.”
But unlike Scarface’s Tony Montana, Pacino, who is currently single after having an affair with Roman’s mother, is very much alive.
He says being a father is what keeps him going. “It changed me forever,” he says. “The idea that you’re focusing on another human being who happens to be your child… there’s love in that.”
His desire to continue acting – his film “Modi on the Wings of Madness” (directed by his close friend Johnny Depp and recently premiered at the San Sebastian Film Festival) – is also a motivating factor. It has become. “It saved my life,” he says. “And I think that continues to be the case.”
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Sonny Boy will be released by Penguin Press on October 15th and is available for pre-order now wherever books are sold.