Al Pacino Secretly Donated the Paycheck From His Most Controversial Film

Al Pacino admits in his new memoir Sonny Boy (via Page Six) that he didn’t take a paycheck for his most controversial film.

William Friedkin’s Cruising (1980) starred Pacino as a New York cop who goes undercover in the city’s gay leather scene to catch a serial killer preying upon the subculture. The movie generated immense controversy even before it was released due to its explicit depiction of sexuality and what activists perceived to be a homophobic point of view. Around 40 minutes of footage, most of it explicit in nature, was cut from the film before its release.

Pacino admits now that Cruising was “exploitative,” but insists that he “didn’t see it as that when I was doing it.” Still, he concedes that he was not “as sensitive” as he could have been at the time. The actor began to have a change of heart as protests intensified on set of the film’s New York locations. But when it came time to promote the film, the producers convinced Pacino to get out in front of the bad press.

“After all,” the actor reasoned, “they had paid me a lot of money, and I wasn’t going to just abandon them.” Pacino served his professional duty, but he made a personal sacrifice that allowed him to feel better about starring in the controversial film.

“I never accepted the paycheck for Cruising, ” he revealed. “I took the money and it was a lot, and I put it in an irrevocable trust fund, meaning once I gave it, there was no taking it back.”

Pacino donated that money, along with its accrued interest, to a number of charities. “I don’t know if it eased my conscience,” he said, “but at least the money did some good.”

Sonny Boy is available now. Cruising is available to rent on Amazon Prime Video.