Al Pacino Recalls Almost Being Kidnapped By ‘Crazy’ Female Fan

Al Pacino found himself in a frightening situation early in his career when a “crazy” fan attempted to kidnap him, forcing him to nearly leap from a moving vehicle.

In his recently released memoir, “Sonny Boy,” the iconic 84-year-old actor recounted this terrifying incident, which unfolded after a night of drinks with Richard Hackman, the brother of actor Gene Hackman.

However, the night took a turn when Al Pacino admitted that the drinking escalated, leaving him unable to find his way home.

According to the actor, he “got so drunk that I could not find my way home” and “a woman said to me, ‘Oh, I’ll drive you home.’ And without a second thought, I got into her car with her.”

“But as we drove, even in my daze, I could recognize that she was not taking me back to where I was staying,” he told his fans in his new memoir, per Page Six. “I said to her, ‘What is going on here?’ And she said straight out, ‘I’m kidnapping you.’ “

Pacino went on to explain that by that time, he “was well-known,” thanks to his role in “The Godfather,” and emphasized that the woman’s behavior “was not” just a case of “some aggressive flirtation.”

“I am from the South Bronx. When I see some crazy person trying to do something to me, I know how to escape,” he wrote. “I said, ‘No, you’re not. I’m getting out.’ She said, ‘No, no,’ and she kept driving.” To illustrate his point, “I opened the door as if to jump out of the car.”

He added, “I was a little drunk, but I was ready to leap from a moving car if I had to. This ain’t happening to me, man.”

Fortunately, he didn’t have to jump from the moving vehicle, as “she closed the door and took me home.”

“I was sitting there in my house, and I was gone,” he told The New York Times. “I didn’t have a pulse. Everybody thought I was dead.”

Within minutes, an ambulance arrived at Pacino’s home, and he regained consciousness to find himself surrounded by six paramedics and two doctors in his living room. “I fainted, and when I opened my eyes, there were six paramedics in my living room,” he recalled to the outlet.

“They had these outfits on that looked like they were from outer space or something,” the actor continued. “It was kind of shocking to open your eyes and see that. Everybody was around me, and they said: ‘He’s back. He’s here.’”

Everyone around him began panicking, but when Pacino came to, he said he “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.”

When reflecting back on that time of his life, Pacino admitted to not seeing “the white light.” “

“As Hamlet says, ‘To be or not to be’; ‘The undiscovered country from whose bourn, no traveler returns.’ And he says two words: ‘No more.’ It was no more,” he said. “You’re gone. I’d never thought about it in my life. But you know actors: It sounds good to say I died once. What is it when there’s no more?”

In “Sonny Boy,” which is now available, the 84-year-old actor reflected on his desire to “push the envelope” when he agreed to make “Cruising” with the late director William Friedkin. The crime thriller features Pacino as a New York City police officer who goes undercover in gay bars across the city in an effort to track down a serial killer suspected of targeting gay men.

The movie “became very controversial during its production,” with Pacino recalling that he saw protestors at shooting locations “almost every day,” who believed the film would not portray the LGBTQ+ community positively.

While the Academy Award winner admitted he did not see “Cruising” as exploitative during its production, he recognized the film’s issues after watching it upon its release. Consequently, he “remained quiet” following its 1980 debut instead of promoting the movie.

“I took the money, and it was a lot, and I put it in an irrevocable trust fund,” Pacino wrote in his memoir, per People Magazine. “I gave it to charities, and with the interest, it was able to last a couple of decades. I don’t know if it eased my conscience, but at least the money did some good.”