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The 86-year-old’s only Academy Award win was for Best Actor in 1992’s Scent of a Woman. Adapted from the Italian novel Darkness and Honey, Al Pacino stars as a blind and depressed retired Army lieutenant colonel, a role that Jack Nicholson had turned down.
Filmed on location at Princeton University, the film follows a prep school student called Charlie Simms who takes a short-term job around Thanksgiving to assist and be a companion to Pacino’s character. Rising stars Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Brendan Fraser and Chris Rock all auditioned for the latter role, which ultimately went to future Robin star Chris O’Donnell.
Pacino famously conducted deep research into his role to understand what it means to be blind, paying particular attention to those who lost their sight during trauma. Aside from his Best Actor win, the movie was nominated for three other Oscars, including Best Picture.
Scent of a Woman is on BBC1 at 11:35pm tonight and will be streaming on BBC iPlayer afterwards for a limited time only.
