Although she was set to reunite with Scarface co-star Al Pacino at the 2024 Oscars, Michelle Pfeiffer had to unfortunately miss the event due to a family emergency.
The official reasoning behind Pfeiffer’s absence was confirmed by Entertainment Weekly.
After the change of plans, Al Pacino ended up presenting the final award of the night, Best Picture, solo. However, Pacino was quickly criticized for not reading the names of all the nominees and went straight to announcing the winner, which was Oppenheimer.
Michelle Pfeiffer and Al Pacino starred opposite of one another in Scarface as Tony Montana and Elvira Hancock.
The iconic film made its debut in 1983 and was arguably Pfeiffer’s first big film. Scarface takes place in Miami, with a determined Cuban immigrant taking over a drug cartel and succumbing to greed.
Those who starred in Scarface with Pfeiffer and Pacino included Steven Bauer, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Robert Loggia, and Miriam Colon.
The film scored eight award nominations, including Golden Globes’ Best Performance By an Actor in a Motion Picture and Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture.
Michelle Pfeiffer Once Revealed She Cried ‘Every Night’ While Working on ‘Scarface
During an appearance on The Skinny Confidential podcast in Jan. 2023, Michelle Pfieffer spoke about her rough experience on the Scarface set.
“I cried myself to sleep almost every night on Scarface,” Pfeiffer explained. “It was obviously a huge deal for me. Al wanted someone else, understandably so. I mean, I’m the girl from Grease 2, you know what I mean?”
“I was just sort of… Then like a month later, they called me back for a screen test. And I was, it was mixed because I was kind of, by that point, so happy to be out of my misery, and I was being tortured.”
Speaking about what really scared her, Michelle Pfeiffer said it mainly because of her own performance. “I was so chill,” she said about her screen test. “ I mean, I just walked in, and I did a really good screen test, and that’s how I got the part.”
In 2017, Michelle Pfeiffer revealed to Interview that she was worried about working with Al Pacino in Scarface. “I was very excited to work with Al Pacino [on Scarface], but I was also intimated by him.”
“Other than me and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, it was all men. I had to play a very cold and aloof woman–very different from my personality and a difficult character for me to hold onto.”
Her performance in Scarface was so good, that she ended up taking on various hit roles in the years that followed. This includes Batman, The Witches of Eastwick, and Dangerous Minds.