Al Pacino
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Have you ever thought about teaching? —Susan Olson in Vero Beach, FL
I don't feel I'm a teacher. Teachers have a certain talent for it. They get a certain pleasure out of it and it means something to them and they give that off. I'm just not that. I've actually never thought about and I don't think I would ever think about it. I just express myself and hope somebody relates to it. I've been around teachers my whole life and when you get around the great ones it's a really magnificent thing. It changes your life. There have been occasions when I've moderated at the Actor's Studio, which means you sit in session where professional actors come who are working things out in various scenes and the moderator talks about what they're doing. These are terrifying moments for me. You never know what you can say, 'cause an actor is in a very vulnerable position. You sort of don't want to say the wrong thing. I've seen actors hurt for years over something that was unnecessary and didn't have to be said.
Can film be used as a teaching tool and if so what have you learned from watching films? —Diego Sada Jr. in Monterrey, Mexico
All art is a teaching tool, especially the art of film. You're talking to someone who literally got my education through the theater and through movies because I had to learn how to play different roles. Therefore I had to track them down and find out who these people are that I was playing and what worlds they operated in and what that was all about. I never went to college. Everything I know, I know from that.
What other career would you have had had you not gone into acting? —Stacey Fuentes in Reno, Nevada
I once played a short-order cook in a movie called Frankie and Johnny. If I had to do anything it would be a short-order cook. The one thing I would never do is being a moving man because I did it and moving furniture from house to house is tough stuff. That I would never do.
Did you ever think of playing the bad guy in Heat instead of the cop? —Daniel Szczepankiewicz, stationed in Baghdad
As a matter of fact I sort of liked the idea of playing the cop, because I thought he had these complications and contradictions. In that movie my character shipped cocaine but nobody knew it because the couple of scenes that I did it in were cut out. So there was that element too that was appealing to me, this intense detective who indulged himself and had a very mixed up unhappy life.
When you stand in front of the mirror, what do you see? —Martha Zak in Warsaw, Poland
It's what I try not to see. I just see me looking at me and that's as far as it goes. I go into a zone. Do I need a shave? Is my hair too long? Am I having a good day? Do I need to wash my face yet again? That's as far as it goes.
Which actors have contributed to making your directing vision come to life? —Ignacio Meza in Los Angeles
My passion to do this, engage myself in this, whatever you want to call it, my putting together this thing called Salomaybe?, which is a combination of Oscar Wilde, myself, and Salome. I was lead by a passion to explore it, not really knowing what direction I was going, but hoping the passion would lead me. When I see things I put them in acting terms. Not like I want to paint that or I want to film that, it's more that would be an interesting thing to act. You're always seeing moments and you get tuned to that kind of a thing with people. You're trying to take the light, which is on you a lot of the time especially if you are successful and famous and put it on something else so that you can explore it.
Who do you think would win in a fight, George Clooney or Brad Pitt? —Luke Denker in Belton, Missouri
I'm actually visualizing it and you know what? I can't. I can't see those two guys fighting, because they're just so funny. They're too funny to fight. They're very funny guys and they're a lot of fun to be with and very generous and gentle. I think it'd be a draw. OK? Let me cop out.