Hollywood icon Al Pacino acquired a nickname during the filming of a particular movie that shocked him so profoundly that he decided to adopt a vegan lifestyle and contribute his earnings from the film to an animal sanctuary.
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Renowned actor Al Pacino was "deeply disturbed" by a nickname he received while filming, which ultimately led him to adopt a vegan lifestyle.
The Hollywood mega-star, known for his work in The Godfather trilogy, Dog Day Afternoon, and Any Given Sunday, was given a strange moniker in the 1990s. While on the set of The Local Stigmatic, Pacino, 84, found himself with a desire for chicken, and according to those on set with him, he could not stop eating poultry products.
This left the production team making up a hilarious nickname for the star. He was left horrified to hear those on set were calling him "Al Pa-chicken". But there was good reason for the name, as X users soon found out.
In a post that has since gone viral on social media, a user shared a screenshot of the iMDB trivia page that revealed Pacino's amusing nickname. According to the page, "Pacino was said to have consumed an excessive amount of chicken during breaks, leading the crew to affectionately call him Al Pa-chicken."
"After filming concluded, he was so appalled by the amount of chicken he consumed during the production that he decided to go vegan for 17 and a half hours and contributed his earnings to a chicken sanctuary located in Aberdeen, Scotland."
There’s growing enthusiasm among fans for a biopic centered around the nickname. One user humorously suggested, "They should create a film titled ‘17 and a Half Hours’ that fully explores Al Pacino's time as a vegan."
One person humorously commented on his short-lived vegan experience, saying: "'Became vegan for seventeen and a half hours'—so he just had a salad for lunch the following day." Another chimed in: "Seventeen and a half hours isn’t really going vegan; that’s just having a different dinner."
The seasoned actor has since taken on the role of Aldo Gucci in Ridley Scott's House of Gucci. Additionally, he is scheduled to appear in the forthcoming horror movie, The Ritual. Pacino disclosed late last year that he came close to death due to a coronavirus infection, stating that he "didn't have a pulse" and that he "felt the experience of dying."
Speaking to The Times, Pacino said: "I looked around and I thought, ‘What happened to me?’ I thought I experienced death. I might not have. I don’t think I have, really. I know I made it." Pacino has since praised his "great assistant" for contacting the paramedics, who showed up at his home within minutes.
"I didn't experience any white light or anything like that," he continued. "There’s just emptiness. You're simply gone. I never really pondered it before. But you know how actors are: it sounds impressive to claim I had a near-death experience. But what does it mean when there's nothing left?"
