How I got to interview Hollywood Godfather Al Pacino at the Clyde Auditorium

Billy Sloan reveals how he blagged the chance to interview Hollywood superstar Al Pacino.

Al Pacino has announced who’ll be his co-star in a new movie he plans to shoot in Scotland ME!

We clinched the deal when I met the Hollywood superstar in Glasgow this week.

He starred in An Evening With Al Pacino at the Clyde Auditorium.

I landed the dream job of interviewing the legendary actor as he talked about an incredible career which includes a trio of Godfather movies plus Dog Day Afternoon, Serpico, Carlito’s Way, Sea Of Love, Scarface, Glengarry Glen Ross and Scent Of A Woman, for which he won the Oscar for Best Actor.

And getting the job couldn’t have been simpler.

When news of the gig was announced, I contacted the promoter and volunteered to question him on stage.

Al likes things to be spontaneous. He wanted a local interviewer who was a fan of his movies so I got the job.

I spent weeks burning the midnight oil researching Pacino, watching his classic films.

I was so clued up I could have gone on Mastermind with “Al Pacino” as my specialist subject.

Then, the nerves or should I say blind terror kicked in.

It’s said your whole life passes in front of you before you drown. Take it from me, it also happens when you’re about to meet the man who played Michael Corleone in The Godfather.

Pacino flew into Glasgow by private jet and was whisked straight to the “Armadillo” for a sound check.

I sat on stage, enthralled, as Al performed an excerpt from the celebrated David Mamet play, American Buffalo, to an empty venue.

“I saw you in American Buffalo in London’s West End in 1984, the last time you performed on a UK stage. I was so knocked out I saw the play twice in a week,” I told him.

“You saw me? I can’t believe it. That was 30 years ago,” said an incredulous Al.

As roadies made final adjustments for the show, Al and I sat alone on stage, shooting the breeze.

He told me: “I wish I could spend more time in Scotland. I’d love to come back and make a movie here. The countryside is so beautiful.”

I seized my chance.

“What about a part for me in it? I’d like a nice juicy role, with a steamy love scene thrown in for good measure,” I said.

“It’s a deal,” said Al, smiling. “Let’s do it.”

Two hours later, 3,000 fans, each paying from £75 to £950 a ticket, took their seats.

Pop star Amy Macdonald, Still Game actor Gavin Mitchell and former Scotland goalie Alan Rough were just three of the famous faces in the audience.

But the show was delayed for 20 minutes because Al wanted some KETTLE CHIPS!

When he finally took to the stage the ovation almost tore the roof off the venue.

I quizzed him about his tough New York childhood, growing up in The Bronx and dreaming of becoming an actor.

As a teenager he’d perform in Greenwich Village cafes, passing the hat round for money. He slept rough to survive.

I unearthed a little-known fact he’d once appeared in The King And I.

“So can Al Pacino sing, too?” I asked him.

Without missing a beat he leapt from his seat and launched into a song from the musical.

During one exchange his mobile rang. Al took it out, checked the number then coolly said: “People are always calling me.”

He revealed that while researching his role as a cop in Serpico he flashed a fake NYC police badge and arrested a truck driver whose vehicle was belching out smoke from the exhaust.

He said: “I shouted, ‘Hey you. Pull over’, and took out my badge. Impersonating a police officer what was I doing?”

Al told me he was offered the part of Han Solo in Star Wars but turned it down.

He said: “I made Harrison Ford who he is Star Wars came to me first. But I couldn’t understand the script.”

While filming Scarface, where he played drug-crazed Cuban gangster Tony Montana, Al almost came a cropper filming the epic final gun battle.

“I don’t know guns, I’ve no idea how to handle them,” he said.

“When Tony gets killed my body was covered with little squibs full of fake blood which explode like bullet holes.

“I fell back and grabbed a rifle I’d been firing not realising it was still red hot. My hand stuck to it. I had to be rushed to hospital with serious burns.

“As they wheeled me in riddled with bullet holes the nurses thought I’d been shot for real.”

Al also told me how he hung out with real-life Mafia bosses while preparing for The Godfather. He also studied blind people to play army officer Frank Slade, who’d lost his sight, in his Oscar-winning role in Scent Of A Woman.

The most bizarre part of the show was when Al took questions from the audience.

I became his translator as he struggled to decipher Glesga accents and I even let him borrow my glasses so he could see fans way up in the gods.

The show was a triumph but even after two hours it felt like we’d only scratched the surface of his amazing career.

“So that can only mean one thing you’ll just have to come back and do it all again,” I told Al.

“Don’t worry I will,” said Mr P.

In his dressing room, Al thanked me, saying: “Your questions were really different they kept me on my toes.”

He signed my vintage American Buffalo poster writing: “To Billy … my favourite.”

It doesn’t get much better than that.

Then he exited the venue munching another packet of Kettle Chips.

Haste ye back, Al.

Report by Billy Sloan