Al Pacino on the Revelation That Led Him to Get Sober Over 40 Years Ago

Al Pacino recalled the moment that led to his decision to get sober more than 40 years ago during an interview with People to promote his new memoir, Sonny Boy .

Pacino battled addiction in his younger years as he was gaining increasingly wide recognition for his roles in The Godfather (1972), Serpico (1973), and Dog Day Afternoon (1975). During that time, he developed a reputation for being seriously committed to his craft while simultaneously shunning events like award shows and interviews, which are de rigueur in the industry. What the public didn’t understand was that Pacino was painfully shy off-camera, and he turned to drugs and alcohol to cope with the newfound attention.

However, he knew it was time to stop when he began losing patches of memory. “I started to forget things at a very young age,” Pacino explained. “They called them blackouts, so I got nervous.”

The actor’s road to sobriety was long and curved, though. "I went to AA for a while. It's a great place, but it was not for me," Pacino admitted before adding that his mentor and friend, Charlie Laughton, was the person who shepherded him to the other side. The actor told Playboy that he’s been sober since 1977.

“It was a powerful moment in my life,” Pacino told the outlet. “I wouldn’t have made it without Charlie.” During a separate interview with Larry King, Pacino admitted that his love for drinking at one point surpassed that of his craft.

"I was, I was, you know, reluctant to stop, but my great friend Charlie Laughton…he was a real influence over me because he was my mentor, my closest friend,” Pacino told King. “Really, begged me to stop for a while. Just to take a look at it and ask me, ‘cause he had stopped for about a year and I was continuing and he was quite worried about me."

"That helped me," Pacino told People this week.

Pacino uses his memoir to get equally candid about a number of personal milestones, such as his near-death experience from Covid-19. “I’m surprised that I did say some of the stuff I said,” he laughed.

Sonny Boy hits shelves on Oct. 15. You can pre-order your copy here .