There were no friends, little or large, joining Tony Montana at the Oscars Sunday night.
The stage was set for Al Pacino, 83, to appear with Michelle Pfeiffer, 65, to present Best Picture and all signs pointed to a reunion of 1983’s smash hit “Scarface,” which was released 40 years ago in December 2023.
However, audience members were shocked to see the Academy Award-winning actor take the stage solo to present the final award of the evening.
Pfeiffer was kept from the ceremony for “personal family reasons” that prevented her from making it to Los Angeles, according to Deadline.
The camera did, however, notice one of Pacino’s other notable costars from “The ‘Godfather” franchise and focused on Robert De Niro, cheering him on in the crowd.
Without building much suspense, Pacino, who received a standing ovation as he took the stage, did not list any of the the 10 Best Picture nominees before announcing “Oppenheimer” as the winner.
The pair had starred as Tony Montana (Pacino), a Cuban refugee turned drug kingpin, and Elvira Hancock (Pfeiffer), his cocaine-addicted girlfriend, in the remake of the 1932 film of the same name.
Oscars 2024
“Scarface,” directed by Brian De Palma, never received any Oscar nominations after its release.
Still, over the decades, it has become a cult classic and a must-watch for gangster movie lovers.
Originally, Pacino, who made his bones in the industry for his 1972 portrayal of Michael Corleone in “The Godfather,” did not want the actress as his costar when it was announced, as she explained on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” in 2017.
“He didn’t particularly want me for the part,” Pfeiffer claimed.
“My last credit before that was ‘Grease 2.’ Can you blame him?”
Fortunately, Pfeiffer could show the actor she had the makings of a great actress during a “very long and drawn-out auditioning process.”
“I was terrified, and I was really young, and I knew he didn’t want me, and as it went on, the worse I got because I just got so afraid,” Pfeiffer recalled, noting that de Palma, had been “rooting” for her to get the part.
Unfortunately, after the initial audition, she was not offered the role.
A month later, Pfeiffer said she got a call to come in to perform a screen test, and feeling she had “no shot” of landing the role, it “freed” her up to lay down a stellar performance.
“We do the restaurant scene at the end where I, kind of, freak out at the end. I threw dishes, and everything went flying, and I broke things, I was in it,” she recalled.
“There was blood everywhere. Everyone comes running over to me, checking me out for blood, where am I cut, they’re not finding anything, there are no cuts on me. I look over and Al is bleeding.”
“I cut Al Pacino! … And that’s how I got the part.”
Though the film never garnered either Pacino or Pfeiffer any Academy Awards, the 83-year-old did win Best Actor in 1993 for “Scent of a Woman” and has also been nominated nine times throughout his historic career.
Pfeiffer has been nominated for three Oscars, with her most recent Best Actress nomination for “Love Field” also coming in 1993.
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