The Actor Becomes An Emotional Athlete

Pacino has spoken about the physical and emotional cost of acting in various interviews about his craft. His approach — rooted in the Method tradition he learned at the Actors Studio under Lee Strasberg — involves deep emotional immersion in a role, which he has described as genuinely depleting. He has said that the intensity required to play characters like Michael Corleone, Tony Montana, and Frank Serpico took a tangible toll on his personal relationships.