Al Pacino Recounts Near Kidnapping In His Memoir
Al Pacino has had a legendary career, but few know about the time he narrowly escaped a kidnapping early on. The 84-year-old actor opens up about this harrowing experience in his new memoir, Sonny Boy, shedding light on an unforgettable incident that could have gone terribly wrong.
In the book, Al recalls a night when he was out for drinks with Richard Hackman, brother of fellow actor Gene Hackman, during a road trip. After drinking too much, he found himself lost and in desperate need of a ride. That’s when a woman offered to drive him home — but things quickly took a dark turn.
As he wrote, he had gotten so drunk that “I couldn’t find my way home.”
That was when “a woman said to me, ‘Oh, I’ll drive you home.’ And without a second thought, I got into her car with her.”
But soon, Al realized something wasn’t right. “…Even in my daze, I could recognize that she was not taking me back to where I was staying,” he recalled. When he confronted her, she shockingly replied, “I’m kidnapping you.”
By this point in his career, Al had already gained fame from The Godfather, but this situation wasn’t just a case of overzealous fan behavior. He sensed real danger. “I’m from the South Bronx,” the actor explained. “When I see some crazy person trying to do something to me, I know how to escape. I said, ‘No, you’re not. I’m getting out.’ She said, ‘No, no,’ and she kept driving.”
Not wanting to take any chances, Al prepared to jump out of the moving car. “I was a little drunk, but I was ready to leap from a moving car if I had to. This ain’t happening to me, man,” he recalled.
Fortunately, the woman reconsidered. After Al threatened to jump out, she eventually closed the door and drove him home, leaving him shaken but unharmed.
Al’s memoir doesn’t only cover his near-kidnapping. The Oscar winner also reflects on his personal life, including why he’s never been married. He writes that he’s “always shied away” from marriage, believing it might lead to more pain than joy. “I guess I didn’t see how it would help anything,” he explains in Sonny Boy, adding, “I just wanted to avoid what I thought was inevitable: an entrance to the pain train.”
Despite never marrying, Al has four children and shares 16-month-old son Roman with his ex-girlfriend Noor Alfallah. While he may not have walked down the aisle, the actor values connection and partnership. “It depends on who you are getting along with. If you live together with someone … you have to have this communion. If you don’t, it’s almost an invasion. So I like to know that if I find a human that I can connect with,” he stated.
As Al continues to co-parent Roman with Alfallah, a rep for the actor assures that they remain “very good friends” and have maintained a strong relationship despite their split.
