Al Pacino shares how his eldest daughter intimidated him before he began working on ‘Scent of a Woman’

By Dan Heching, CNN

(CNN) — Al Pacino is a proud dad.

When the actor was preparing to shoot the 1992 film “Scent of a Woman” – in which he played a freewheeling and curmudgeonly retired Army veteran who is blind – Pacino recently told E! News that he asked his eldest daughter, who was 3 years old at the time, to try and play a blind person.

“I said to my daughter, ‘Hey, Julie, do a blind person. Can you do a blind person for me?’” he recalled. “She did it and I thought, ‘Wow, I can’t do this because kids are geniuses.’ They have that genius and she was blind and she just did it, no preparation, nothing.”

Pacino, of course, went on to win a best actor Oscar for his performance in the role the following year, but still credits his kids – Julie Marie, now 35, twins Anton and Olivia, 24, and youngest son Roman, 2 – with helping him with his craft.

“Everything he does is real,” Pacino, 85, told the BBC in October of Roman, who he welcomed with Noor Alfallah in 2023. “Everything he does is interesting to me. So, we talk,” he continued, adding that he plays the harmonica for Roman on video calls.

Also last year, Pacino observed to People magazine that fatherhood “changed” him for “the better.”

“It changed me for life. And the idea that you’re throwing your focus on other humans who happen to be your children … there’s the love.”

“The Godfather” star reflected on having a new baby as an octogenerian.

“Well, it’s always the same. It’s always the same,” he said. “It’s a mini miracle. That’s all I can say.”

Happy Father’s Day, Mr. Pacino!

CNN’s Lisa Respers France contributed to this report.

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