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Oscars 2020: Best Supporting Actor nominee Al Pacino says awards can be ‘a little stressful’

Veteran actor is competing against his co-star Joe Pesci for their performances in Martin Scorsese’s ‘The Irishman’

Roisin O'Connor
Sunday 09 February 2020 12:22 GMT
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The Irishman - trailer

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Al Pacino has admitted that he never quite knows how to handle an Oscar nomination, and that the ceremony itself can be “a little stressful”.

Speaking to Sky News, the veteran actor revealed that his three grown-up children will be coming with him to tonight’s (9 February) awards, where he is nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Irishman.

Martin Scorsese’s epic crime saga set in post-war America received acclaim from critics. The film is told through the eyes of Robert De Niro’s character, World War II veteran-turned-hitman Frank Sheeran.

“Well, I think they’re fun for people that watch… but being part of it is a little stressful,” Pacino said of the awards.

“When I was younger, [fame] was a different thing for me than it is now,” he continued. “Now I try to... I try to just look at it for what it is, you know, and I admire it, and the whole fact that I’m involved...

“I’m very happy, I’m going to bring my three kids to the Oscars, they’re coming with me. It’s a good thing for kids too, you know, it’s fun. It’s fun for everybody.”

Pacino is competing against his The Irishman co-star Joe Pesci – who played labour union leader Jimmy Hoffa – for the Best Supporting Actor gong. The pair were previously nominated for the same prize 1991: Pacino for Dick Tracy, Pesci for Goodfellas.

Pesci won in 1991, while Pacino went on to win Best Actor for his performance as Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade in Scent of a Woman.

Brad Pitt is this year’s favourite to win Best Supporting Actor, for his role in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Follow our coverage of the Oscars 2020 here.

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