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Michelle Pfeiffer, 67, has revealed that she accidentally made Al Pacino bleed while auditioning for Brian De Palma’s “Scarface” more than 40 years ago.
The “Grease 2” star recalled the lead-up to the bloody incident during Sean Hayes, Jason Bateman and Will Arnett’s “SmartLess” podcast episode released Monday, Sept. 29.
At the time, Pfeiffer nearly lost out on the role of Elvira Hancock because she was “afraid” and her “bad” auditions alongside Pacino (Tony Montana) were getting “worse and worse and worse.”
“Brian finally comes to me and says, ‘You know, doll, it’s just not going to work out,’” she remembered. “Fear is the worst. It’s an actor’s enemy. It just completely undermines you. So as disappointed as I was, I was so happy to be done with it.”
Pfeiffer, however, was called back for a screen test one month later, which was when she accidentally cut Pacino’s finger, causing a bloody mess.
“I show up and I don’t even give a s–t because I know I’m not getting this part,” the “Batman Returns” starlet shared. “It was my best work of the film, of course.”
“I swipe the table of the dishes and glasses break, the dishes break. Cut. There’s blood everywhere,” she continued. “I didn’t cut me. I cut Al. I thought, ‘Well, there goes that part.’”
Pacino wasn’t upset, though, and Pfeiffer speculated that the incident helped her land what became her breakout role.
“Actually, I think that was the day he was like, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think she’s not bad,’” Pfeiffer said, adding that the experience taught her not to “give a s–t” about performances and auditions.
Elsewhere during her chat with Hayes, Bateman and Arnett, the Oscar-nominated actress opened up about the hit 1983 crime drama and the “really intense” six months it took to shoot.
“I didn’t have any idea it would become sort of a cultural phenomenon,” Pfeiffer, who was only 23 at the time, shared.
“I was playing a coke addict, so I was not eating,” the “Dangerous Minds” star continued. “And I kept getting skinnier and skinnier. The crew were bringing me bagels.”
Pfeiffer added that, besides her and co-star Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (Gina Montana), the set of “Scarface” was dominated by “gangster guys and machismo” who were “all kind of a little bit in character all the time.”
This left the future Golden Globe winner, who later married producer David E. Kelley in 1993, feeling scared and like she wasn’t good enough to be involved in such a serious production.
“I just didn’t have a lot of experience under my belt. And I was terrified. Every night I was terrified,” Pfeiffer admitted.
“I didn’t feel worthy,” she added. “I didn’t feel like I had the chops. I didn’t have any experience behind me. I had zero confidence.”
However, Pfeiffer’s portrayal of Elvira Hancock helped launch her career. She went on to receive an Oscar nomination for “Dangerous Liaisons” (1988), as well as “The Fabulous Baker Boys” (1989) and “Love Field” (1992).
