Ali Fazal on Meeting Al Pacino: ‘I Have Chased That Man Since I Was A kid’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Over the years, Ali Fazal has worked alongside some of the biggest international names — from Dame Judi Dench in “Victoria & Abdul” and Vin Diesel in “Furious 7” to Gerard Butler in the action thriller “Kandahar.” Yet, he was starstruck when he came face-to-face with Al Pacino.

Speaking about the Hollywood A-lister, Fazal admits that Pacino remains his ultimate cinematic idol, and he remembers feeling awestruck on meeting him. “The buck stops there,” he says, adding, “I have chased that man since I was a kid. I remember that in my hostel I would list every film of his I wanted on the wall, because it was not available. So, I would somehow get and watch these films.”
 

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Years later, the actor found himself living out a scene straight out of a movie while in London, shooting for “Death on the Nile.” Fazal shares, “I was in London, and there was the premiere for ‘The Irishman.’ And I mixed up the dates. I realized 20 minutes before the opening of the gates (of the premiere), and I ran. I couldn’t get a cab… Luckily it was in the vicinity. I  wore my suit, and I ran. It was so filmi!”

Fazal made it to the venue just in time. “The doors open. I go straight to the bar because I needed water. I stop there, I turn to my right, and he’s right in front of me. He’s just looking at me smiling. That was the first time I was really starstruck by someone. When you’re working with somebody, it’s fine. It’s enriching. It’s like, ‘This is me, and I take whatever you’re going to give.’ But here, I wasn’t working with him. I was just a fan.”
 

He reminisces about them speaking about theatre. “I told him what I was doing. And he was like, ‘Oh!’ because he’s also very big on theatre. He’s always been a big champion of Shakespeare and has a big body of work (in theatre) apart from the cinema he does.”

Fazal shares that he is like an encyclopedia on Pacino and how he would list trivia about him to his friends. “I used to talk about all the things that he had gone through. Like the number of auditions that Pacino had done for ‘The Godfather.’ I was really obsessed with him.”