Al Pacino & Cigars

I’d like to claim that my first memory of Al Pacino is from The Godfather (1972). Unfortunately, I didn’t see that movie or its sequels until many years after they came out. My first recollection of Pacino, born Alfredo James Pacino, is from the movie Dog Day Afternoon (1975). Pacino is one of the world’s most recognized actors. Beyond The Godfather films, he has starred in Serpico, Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), Donnie Brasco, and, perhaps in his most mimicked role, Scarface (1983) – certainly a great film to watch while you’re smoking if you have the luxury. Of course, the real Scarface was the notorious gangster Al Capone, who did love to smoke cigars. The original Scarface movie came out in 1932 and starred Paul Muni in the lead role, smoking cigars throughout.

In the retold version, Pacino appears as a Cuban refugee who becomes a very wealthy drug dealer. Of course, beyond imitating him when he utters, “Say hello to my little friend,” we’re most interested in the fact that Pacino is smoking a cigar constantly in the movie.

Pacino’s Favorite Cigar

While it seems that Pacino’s character in Scarface is smoking Cuban cigars, though they’re all very dark, in real life Cubans are reportedly Pacino’s preference. He is known to smoke many brands and endorses none over another, but he does like the Cuban Montecristo No.1.

Pacino, 83, has been quoted as saying that smoking a cigar is a luxury and that “it’s about taking the time to sit back, and appreciate the finer things in life.”

In the movie, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019), Pacino plays Hollywood agent Marvin Schwarz. At dinner with Leonardo Di Caprio (in the movie), Pacino’s character explains that when he screens a movie, he likes to sit back and enjoy a Cuban cigar with a cognac.

Staying in Character

During the movie Scent of a Woman (1992), for which Pacino won an Oscar, his blind character sends out for medicine and the Montecristos. Of course, the Cuban version technically would not have been legally available, but, hey, it’s the movies. Pacino, the story goes, would smoke cigars with the other actors during breaks in shooting, but would remain in character pretending to be blind.

Pacino, in addition to the Oscar, has been awarded two Tony awards, two Emmys, four Golden Globes, a BAFTA (for Dog Day Afternoon and The Godfather Part II) and two Screen Actors Guild prizes.