At 80 years old, Al Pacino is still putting out performances that garner awards-circuit attention. He made waves in 2020 as part of Martin Scorsese's The Irishman, and this year, he's earned a Golden Globes nomination for his wild (but not 100% Devil's Advocate wild) performance in Amazon's polarizing genre-bender Hunters. Perhaps his best performance of the year, however, happened during the Golden Globes telecast itself, where it appeared as if he was catching a bit of shut eye right when he showed up on camera.
Check out the clip below, in which it definitely looks like Al Pacino was raging against the dying of the sunlight outside by catching 5-10 winks, unaware that he would soon appear on-screen next to his fellow nominees for Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Drama.
Seriously, that's perhaps the most understated bit of acting that Al Pacino has pulled off in his illustrious and enviable career in Hollywood. Had he been humming or chewing or something, he could have played that off as just being lost in the moment. However, the way his eyes snap open like that, and he looks around very much like someone who is being told, "Dude, you're on TV right now!"
To be sure, I'm not even making fun of Al Pacino for taking a break from it all, and by "all," I mean awards shows and computer cameras and the entirety of the outside world. There are definitely times during various ceremonies that make a nap seem like the better alternative, especially once things go beyond the two-hour mark, allowing the alcohol and fatigue to take their toll on people's decision-making skills. (Although sometimes those went out the window right from the start.)
But still, it probably isn't the best look to just zonk out for a bit in the midst of celebrating all things Hollywood. In fact, we know it's not the best look, because we have visual evidence above. Perhaps Al Pacino just didn't think he had a shot at winning, so he didn't think it was imperative to stick to being conscious ahead of the award being given out. (He didn't win, with The Crown's Josh O'Connor winning for his work on Season 4.) Or maybe he didn't realize the Globes were going to have those awkward nominee video segments going into the commercial breaks. No one could have expected those, I guess.
Check out all the big winners from the 2021 Golden Globe Awards, and even if it makes you want to hide your eyes, you probably won't fall asleep if you check out Al Pacino's Globe-nominated work in Hunters on Amazon Prime Video, which is gearing up for Season 2.
