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Al Pacino Donated His Pay From Cruising Movie For THIS Reason: 'At Least The Money Did Some...'
Al Pacino wanted to clear his conscience and had a noble reason behind donating all of his pay from 1980 Cruising movie to various charities.
Almost 45 years ago, Al Pacino anticipated that his movie Cruising would not be viewed favorably in the years to come. He donated his salary to charities at that time.
In his memoir Sonny Boy, Pacino revealed that his major purpose was to at least ensure a positive return from the movie that was "exploitative" to the LGBT+ community. This was convincing enough for him to give the whole of his earnings from the picture to various charities.
The memoir explained how the Academy Award winner began to regard Cruising (1980) as an attempt to portray the LGBT community in a negative light. Instead of retaining his remuneration, he established a trust, which he used for humanitarian purposes in support of the community.
He recognized that while this may not have given satisfactory closure to his ethical principles, he did manage to get some relief because the funds were used for a good cause.
Pacino wrote, "I took the money, and it was a lot, and I put it in an irrevocable trust fund. I gave it to charities, and with the interest, it was able to last a couple of decades."
From the beginning, Pacino undertook the role, as he had a motive to push the limits. Still, the film generated outrage, especially at the filming location. The controversies erupted almost immediately with concern about the attitude towards the LGBTQ community, leading to protests every day on location.
He added, "I don’t know if it eased my conscience, but at least the money did some good."
William Friedkin’s Cruising is based loosely on Gerald Walker’s novel of the same name from 1970. The film’s official description reads, “A police officer goes undercover in the underground S&M gay subculture of New York City to catch a serial killer who is preying on gay men.”
Al Pacino stars as Detective Steve Burns, who goes undercover in New York City's S&M world in a bid to find an elusive serial killer who kills gay men. It depicts murders of homosexual men that happened in New York City between 1962 and 1979.
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