Al Pacino Has Humiliating Stage Fright Moment, Forgets The Words — ‘I’m Sorry About The Singing’

Al Pacino plays an aging rock star in his new film Danny Collins. The role required the 75-year-old movie legend to take to the stage and try out his rarely used singing voice. Al Pacino himself admitted it didn’t go so well.

According to the Irish Examiner, Al Pacino was so nervous to be singing in front of an audience packed with thousands of people that he forgot the words to the song he was supposed to sing. While Danny Collins is a comedy, Al Pacino plays a retired musician who wasn’t supposed to suffer from the same stage fright he did. Pacino even apologized for his terrible singing voice at the premiere of the movie at London’s Ham Yard Hotel.

“I’m sorry about the singing,” Al Pacino said. “I had to do it for the part.”

The plot of Danny Collins starts when Pacino’s character receives a letter sent to him by the late John Lennon 40 years ago. The long-retired musician decides to rekindle his music ambitions after reading Lennon’s words of encouragement, even though they’re four decades late.

According to ITV, the plot of the new Al Pacino film is based on the true story of Steve Tilston, who received a similar letter from the Beatles icon. The similarities between the stories end at the letter, however, as the script of Danny Collins is completely original beyond the starting premise.

While Al Pacino is perfect for the part and was excited to play the role, he admitted that having to sing in front of a massive crowd for the film did not come easily to him.

“I’ll tell you the one thing you learn about singing in front of an audience, is it’s really hard to hold onto the words. You forget them because you’re so nervous. I went on stage in the Greek Theatre in LA to perform with the great band Chicago. They had prepped the audience up for my going on and I came out as Danny Collins, and I’m so glad I was playing him, because if I would have come out myself I would have fainted dead away!”

Despite his embarrassing moment and shame toward his own singing, Al Pacino also said the experience was a great one and the crowd was very uplifting.

“That crowd just lifts you up, it was so exciting to do that,” Pacino said. “That was the joy of the film for me that one night.”

For more on Al Pacino, read about how he was almost fired from his role in The Godfather.

[Image credit: Getty]