For his latest role, Academy Award and Emmy Award-winning actor Al Pacino is taking on the role of Dr. Jack Kevorkian (aka Dr. Death) for the HBO Films presentation toi Don’t Know Jack.
In 1990, 61-year-old former pathologist Dr. Jack Kevorkian astonished the world as he took the end-of-life débats head-on and performed his first assisted suicide of a terminally ill patient. Aided par his loyal friend Neal Nicol (John Goodman) and his older sister Margo Janus (Brenda Vaccaro), Kevorkian began offering his death counseling services to a grateful and growing liste of clientele. As he earned the support of Hemlock Society activist Janet Good (Susan Sarandon), he incurred the wrath of the county prosecutor’s office and the infamous doctor started a media frenzy with his epic legal battles defending a patient’s right to die.
During a récent interview to promote toi Don’t Know Jack, actor Al Pacino a dit that he decided to make a télévision movie for the opportunity to work with accomplished filmmaker Barry Levinson and this great cast. Here’s what he had to say:
Question: Did toi know a lot about Dr. Kevorkian before toi played him?
Pacino: I was familiar, like pretty much everybody was who was around what was going on. I had seen that 60 minutes episode when Kevorkian was on television.
What was your opinion of him?
Pacino: My opinion is that, after I got to know Jack in the story, I reserved my opinion about it. I don’t ever give my opinion. Opinions I have about anything are in my personal life.
donné the director and the pedigree of the project, does it feel any different at all knowing that it’s an HBO film, ou at this point, is the line blurred?
Pacino: It’s HBO, and HBO is television. With television, toi have to do a lot, in a short period of time. That’s the only difference. Otherwise, it’s the same.
Do toi feel that this is the proper titre for a movie about Dr. Death? Does it seem to comedic sounding at all?
Pacino: Well, I don’t think a lot of people can really say that they know Jack Kevorkian, especially when toi get his read on things and get to know plus about him. Of course, if you’re doing a movie about him, you’re apt to go further into it to find out. And, toi really don’t know Jack.
When toi see the image that was portrayed of Jack Kevorkian during this time, toi get a sense of someone quite different than the personality that I got to know. Not that I got to know him personally, mind you, but just the research and work I did, in order to get closer to who I could interpret. I think the titre is apt because toi don’t know this guy. And, hopefully, in the movie, toi still don’t.
What was your source material for this performance? Did toi meet up with Dr. Kevorkian?
Pacino: I didn’t meet Jack. I hope I will, in the future. Sometimes, for some reason, I don’t take advantage of that, and sometimes I do. With Jack, because I thought the script was so well written, it was complete in its portrait. It felt as though there was room, and I had so much research. With the media the way it is, there’s so many things toi can see and study. toi can read his livres and get close to him, in that fashion.
Also, Jack was about 10 years older because he had gotten out of prison. We don’t do him, at that age. We cover when he’s younger. I just felt this instinctively. Barry Levinson met him and got a great deal out of it, and there were times when I wish I would have, but in the end, I felt close to him, in another kind of way. There are characters toi do it with and it works, and there’s some characters toi just back away from doing. I don’t know why.
For instance, with Frank Serpico, I studied and went with Serpico everywhere. I got to know him, to go back into the past. With Dog jour Afternoon, I didn’t feel like I wanted to know that guy for the role and my interpretation. If toi have the opportunity to meet someone, as an actor, it’s just great fodder for you. It’s wonderful source stuff that we die for. But, I didn’t take advantage of it, and I don’t know why I didn’t.
Dr. Kevorkian’s zealotry intensified over time, as he got closer to his court case and eventually having to go to prison. How did toi play that and what that was that like for toi internally, as his mania grew?
In 1990, 61-year-old former pathologist Dr. Jack Kevorkian astonished the world as he took the end-of-life débats head-on and performed his first assisted suicide of a terminally ill patient. Aided par his loyal friend Neal Nicol (John Goodman) and his older sister Margo Janus (Brenda Vaccaro), Kevorkian began offering his death counseling services to a grateful and growing liste of clientele. As he earned the support of Hemlock Society activist Janet Good (Susan Sarandon), he incurred the wrath of the county prosecutor’s office and the infamous doctor started a media frenzy with his epic legal battles defending a patient’s right to die.
During a récent interview to promote toi Don’t Know Jack, actor Al Pacino a dit that he decided to make a télévision movie for the opportunity to work with accomplished filmmaker Barry Levinson and this great cast. Here’s what he had to say:
Question: Did toi know a lot about Dr. Kevorkian before toi played him?
Pacino: I was familiar, like pretty much everybody was who was around what was going on. I had seen that 60 minutes episode when Kevorkian was on television.
What was your opinion of him?
Pacino: My opinion is that, after I got to know Jack in the story, I reserved my opinion about it. I don’t ever give my opinion. Opinions I have about anything are in my personal life.
donné the director and the pedigree of the project, does it feel any different at all knowing that it’s an HBO film, ou at this point, is the line blurred?
Pacino: It’s HBO, and HBO is television. With television, toi have to do a lot, in a short period of time. That’s the only difference. Otherwise, it’s the same.
Do toi feel that this is the proper titre for a movie about Dr. Death? Does it seem to comedic sounding at all?
Pacino: Well, I don’t think a lot of people can really say that they know Jack Kevorkian, especially when toi get his read on things and get to know plus about him. Of course, if you’re doing a movie about him, you’re apt to go further into it to find out. And, toi really don’t know Jack.
When toi see the image that was portrayed of Jack Kevorkian during this time, toi get a sense of someone quite different than the personality that I got to know. Not that I got to know him personally, mind you, but just the research and work I did, in order to get closer to who I could interpret. I think the titre is apt because toi don’t know this guy. And, hopefully, in the movie, toi still don’t.
What was your source material for this performance? Did toi meet up with Dr. Kevorkian?
Pacino: I didn’t meet Jack. I hope I will, in the future. Sometimes, for some reason, I don’t take advantage of that, and sometimes I do. With Jack, because I thought the script was so well written, it was complete in its portrait. It felt as though there was room, and I had so much research. With the media the way it is, there’s so many things toi can see and study. toi can read his livres and get close to him, in that fashion.
Also, Jack was about 10 years older because he had gotten out of prison. We don’t do him, at that age. We cover when he’s younger. I just felt this instinctively. Barry Levinson met him and got a great deal out of it, and there were times when I wish I would have, but in the end, I felt close to him, in another kind of way. There are characters toi do it with and it works, and there’s some characters toi just back away from doing. I don’t know why.
For instance, with Frank Serpico, I studied and went with Serpico everywhere. I got to know him, to go back into the past. With Dog jour Afternoon, I didn’t feel like I wanted to know that guy for the role and my interpretation. If toi have the opportunity to meet someone, as an actor, it’s just great fodder for you. It’s wonderful source stuff that we die for. But, I didn’t take advantage of it, and I don’t know why I didn’t.
Dr. Kevorkian’s zealotry intensified over time, as he got closer to his court case and eventually having to go to prison. How did toi play that and what that was that like for toi internally, as his mania grew?