Pacino admits drink and drugs past

Hollywood legend Al Pacino today told how he was once so wasted on drink and drugs at an Oscars ceremony that he was relieved he did not win.

The Devil’s Advocate star said he was so strung out he did not think he could have made it to the stage if he had won Best Actor for Serpico in 1973.

Pacino had been thrust into the limelight by the huge success of The Godfather, and was often mistaken for the film’s brooding anti-hero Michael Corleone.

He told the Sunday Times’ Culture magazine: “I was into whatever altered my mood – a lot of booze and a lot of pills. I stopped all that a long time ago.

“But I remember thinking at those Oscars: ‘If I get this award, I don’t know if I’ll be able to get to the stage.’

“I also didn’t have anything prepared to say. I was out of sync with what was happening to me. So when Jack Lemmon won, I was smiling and applauding.”

Pacino was giving a rare interview to promote his latest film, S1m0ne, a satire in which he plays a film director who hires a digitally-created actress because of the increasing attitude problems of real-life stars.

The 62-year-old said he could relate to his character’s problem with modern-day Hollywood actors, declaring: “The world of celebrity has gone mad.”

He added: “It is very scary, because it happens when you are on a tightrope. You are up there, trying to make a part happen, when someone starts being difficult.

“This is not good. The whole thing is about trusting each other, as if we are in an orchestra trying to create good harmonies. But I am not going to name names. They know who they are.”