Before I became 'The Godfather', I slept on a borrowed couch, dreaming of getting even the smallest role.

My name is Alfredo James Pacino. I was born in East Harlem, New York. My father left when I was just a child, and my mother — struggling to make ends meet — raised me the best she could.

We had no luxuries, nor plans for the future. We barely had enough for today.

At 17, I dropped out of school and worked wherever I could: delivering products, marking theaters, even cleaning offices.

But deep down, my soul belonged to the stage, even if very few knew it.

I tried to get into every acting school I could find... and was rejected many times. I slept at friends' houses, sometimes even on the streets. There were days when I didn’t eat well, but I never missed a rehearsal.

I lived in a small apartment full of cockroaches and leaking ceilings.

Still, I woke up every day hoping that someone, someday, would see me act.

And finally - someone did.

When I got the call for The Godfather, not everyone at the studio was convinced. They said I was too short, not 'commanding' enough to play Michael Corleone.

But Francis Ford Coppola believed in me.

And with that role... my life changed forever.

Then came Scarface, Scent of a Woman, Heat... But every character I played was more than a role - it was a scar disguised as dialogue. Because I wasn't just acting. I was surviving through my art.

"Al Pacino wasn't born with a paved path... He built it with every 'no', every tear, and every night when acting was the only thing that kept him alive. "

"Some lives are not saved by luck... They are saved by passion. "

– Al Pacino