Al Pacino’s performance in “Heat” is legendary. And a big reason why it’s so beloved is how hyped up the character of Vincent Hanna was in every scene. It was almost like Pacino was acting in a different film than the rest of his scene partners because he had the energy dialed up to 11. Well, apparently there was a reason for that.
Speaking on a recent episode of the “WTF Podcast,” Pacino talked about his new memoir, “Sonny Boy.” And while talking about it, he brought up a point that is in the memoir that no one realized until now—Vincent Hanna loved cocaine. According to Pacino, he decided that his character would be constantly high during the events of “Heat.” Unfortunately, filmmaker Michael Mann took out any mention of the cocaine while editing the film.
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“I don’t think there was a reason he had to doing it,” said Pacino. “This is a wired character I’m playing anyway. But he did chip cocaine, not the real guy [it was based on], that I don’t know, but the character I composed.”
In fact, Pacino said there was a scene where Hanna is shown doing cocaine. But for whatever reason, Mann took it out of the final edit.
“There’s a scene in the film when I’m going into the club where you actually see me do it. Took it out,” he added. “And he had his reasons, I’m sure.”
As for Pacino himself, the actor swears he actually has never tried cocaine in his life. This is something that might surprise folks as the actor has turned in some legendary performances that seem to be fueled by something. Alas, it’s not cocaine.
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“Never. I have to say it,” he said. “Nobody believes me, so I’ll say it anyway, it is the truth: I never had coke in my life.”
You can hear the full discussion below: