Pacino on being famous: Why would I want to give it up?
Al Pacino loves being famous.
The Hollywood legend - famous for his roles in iconic films 'Scarface', 'The Godfather' and 'The Devil's Advocate' - has lived for more than five decades in the spotlight and admitted that whilst he has an idea of what it is like to live a normal life, he doesn't want to be anonymous.
He said: "I have access and I have friendliness everywhere I go. Why would I want to give that up? I had many years of anonymity. I've seen the other side of things and I'm grateful for it ... I think it (fame) is just another part of life and I've grown accustomed to it."
But forever the cool star, Pacino won't take himself too seriously and laughed as he recalled a time when a passer by assumed that he was showing off.
He told Spotlight magazine: "I used to play paddle tennis, to get into shape. This is maybe 20 years ago. We had a team of doubles and all of the players had their last name across their chest. I had my name across my black shirt: PACINO. So I leave this place I was living in, down the by the water in LA, and I'm walking down the block on my way to a game. This middle-aged woman with a dog walks by and she sees my shirt, and she looks at me, and she says, 'Oh, purrlease!'"
Pacino added: "I think anonymity is something that all people share but don't understand, until you lose - then it has something of a meaning ... We all have a taste for attention. We all liked to be acknowledged and respond to being appreciated. That's one thing. To be so invisible? That's another."
