- Al Pacino appeared on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Thursday to talk about his new film “The Irishman,” which has received 10 Oscar nominations.
- Pacino himself has been nominated nine times for Oscars.
- He recalled the 1975 Oscars, where he was nominated for “The Godfather: Part II” and attended the awards high.
- Pacino met Jeff Bridges there, who was also nominated and didn’t recognize “The Godfather” star.
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Al Pacino appeared on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” to promote “The Irishman,” for which he has received his ninth Oscar nomination – this time for Best Supporting Actor.
His first career nomination came in 1973 for “The Godfather,” but he told Jimmy Kimmel he was unable to attend that ceremony. The first ceremony he went to was the following year, where he was nominated for Best Actor for “Serpico.”
However, it was the second ceremony he attended (for his third nomination, this time for Best Actor for “The Godfather: Part II”) that really stood out for him.
"I was sitting there and it wasn't at all like you'd expect. 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," said Pacino.
"So everything was tolerable, you know? The nerves had calmed down. I was sitting there enjoying the show. I turned to Jeff Bridges - he was also nominated [for Best Supporting Actor for 'Thunderbolt' and 'Lightfoot'] - and I said hi," he added.
"I didn't know him but I knew he was Jeff Bridges, but I never met him. He said, 'Yes? Hi. Okay,'" said Pacino, who at that point in his career had starred in two "Godfather" movies, "Serpico," and had garnered three Academy Award nods.
"I thought, 'He hasn't seen my films,'" laughed Pacino.
"But I said to him, 'I don't think they're going to get to the Best Actor category. It's [the show] an hour and they didn't get to that category.' He gave me a look to this day - I'll never forget it - like, 'Where do you come from, who are you?' and said, 'It's three hours.'"
It's worth pointing out that Pacino seems to recall Bridges being nominated alongside himself in Best Actor, but was actually nominated for Best Supporting Actor so Bridges' category had already been announced.
Indeed, Bridges lost the award to Pacino's "The Godfather II" (and "The Irishman") co-star Robert De Niro, perhaps explaining his frostiness to Pacino. Still, Pacino was startled at just how long the Oscars were.
"That collapsed me. I thought 'what am I going to do for the next two hours?'"
"If you're so high that Jeff Bridges has to tell you what's going on ..." joked Kimmel.
Watch the full video on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBUfgoV3UUg
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