Al Pacino’s ‘High’ Oscars Story From ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ Sparked Some Divided Thoughts From Fans

During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Thursday night, Al Pacino shared several anecdotes from his legendary career. In one story, The Irishman actor admitted to being extremely high during the 1975 Oscars, and fellow nominee Jeff Bridges had to explain to him what was going on. The story earned a mixed response from fans online.

During the 1975 Oscars, The Godfather Part II had a huge night, with Robert De Niro winning his first Oscar for Best Supporting Actor and Francis Ford Coppola winning Best Director. The film also won Best Picture and three other awards. Pacino infamously lost Best Actor though, and Bridges was also a loser that night. The actor, nominated for Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, lost to De Niro.

“I was sitting there, and it wasn’t at all like you’d expect,” Pacino explained to Kimmel. “I went and I was sat there in this big event and I was with a friend. I had a few things, you know? I was not completely myself.”

Kimmel and the audience knew exactly what Pacino was talking about.

“So everything was tolerable, you know? The nerves had calmed down,” Pacino continued. “I was sitting there enjoying the show. I turned to Jeff Bridges — he was also nominated — and I said hi.”

“I didn’t know him, but I knew he was Jeff Bridges, but I never met him,” the actor explained. “He said: ‘Yes? Hi? Okay.’ I thought, ‘He hasn’t seen my films.’ But I said to him: ‘I don’t think they’re going to get to the best actor category. He looked at me and he said ‘what do you mean?’ I said ‘well, It’s an hour [in], it’s over, and they didn’t get to that category.’”
Pacino said he will never forget the look Bridges gave him at that moment.

“He gave me a look to this day — I’ll never forget it — like, ‘Where do you come from, who are you?’ and he said, ‘It’s three hours,’” Pacino said. “That collapsed me. I thought, ‘What am I gonna do for the next two hours?’”

This year, Pacino is up for Best Supporting Actor for The Irishman — his first nomination since he won for Best Actor for Scent of a Woman in 1993. His competition includes co-star Joe Pesci, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood‘s Tom Hanks, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood star Brad Pitt and The Two Popes‘ Anthony Hopkins. Notably, Pitt is the only one in the category never to win an Oscar for acting before.

The 92nd Academy Awards are scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 9 and will air live on ABC.

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