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FILM
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GETTING TO KNOW JACK |
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The screen icon takes the role of Jack Kevorkian
in a new HBO movie
Movie legend Al Pacino is tackling a notorious legend. Well, maybe that’s not quite the way to put it. Dr. Jack Kevorkian, known best as “Dr. Death” because of his penchant for helping dying patients to speed up their demise, is getting the HBO movie treatment in You Don’t Know Jack.
Pacino, who turns 70 on April 25th, is one of a handful of movie icons who command instant respect. He’s part of that elite band known simply by their last names, including Streep, DeNiro and Eastwood. Pacino first caught the public’s eye in l972 as the straight arrow Michael Corleone, who takes his family’s concept of loyalty to the extreme to become the Mafia Don in The Godfather and its two sequels.
Pacino has delivered mesmerizing, unforgettable performances on stage and in countless movies, including Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Scarface, Sea of Love, Glengarry Glen Ross, Carlito’s Way, Heat, Donnie Brasco and Any Given Sunday. He won a best actor Oscar in l992 for Scent of a Woman.
He also keeps up a cracking work pace in You Don’t Know Jack as he offers his particular take on the much-maligned Kevorkian, the right-to-die advocate who went to prison in l999 for pursuing his euthanasia policies. The story is told mostly from Kevorkian’s point of view over a 12-year period focusing on the pathologist and the people who supported him as he battled society and waged a long legal battle over his controversial practice.
Pacino recently sat down with us to talk about You Don’t Know Jack and taking on the role of “Dr. Death.”
The movie title has a satirical touch. Is it appropriate for a film about a man called “Dr. Death?”
I don’t think a lot of people can really say that they know Jack Kevorkian, especially when you get to know him or you get to read about him. Of course, if you’re doing a movie about him, you’re apt to go further into it to find out.
So was your take on him different from his public image?
When you see the image that was portrayed of Jack Kevorkian during his high-profile time, you 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 through the research I did and the work I did, in order to get closer to who I could sort of interpret. I think the title is apt because you don’t know this guy. And, hopefully, in the movie you still don’t.
This movie has a star-studded cast with a director of high pedigree. Does it feel any different knowing it’s an HBO cable film?
Well, it’s television. It’s HBO, and so HBO is television. And television is you have to do a lot in a short period of time, so that’s the difference – the only difference. Otherwise, it’s the same.
What makes Kevorkian such a fascinating character?
I didn’t meet Jack. I hope I will in the future. Sometimes, for some reason, I don’t take access to that, and sometimes I do. I thought the script was so complete in its portrait. I mean, it felt as though there was room, and I had so much research. And with the media the way it is, there’s so many things you could see and study, and to read his books and get close to him in that fashion. Also, Jack was about ten years older then because he had gotten out of prison. We don’t do him that age. We’re here when he’s younger.
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