Universal Pictures Brian De Palma's 1983 crime classicScarfacehas plenty of blood on the screen, butMichelle Pfeiffersays there was no shortage of violent mayhem before production even started. TheBatman ReturnsandAge of Innocenceactress was a guest on theSmartLesspodcast, and chatted up cohostsWill Arnett,Jason Bateman, andSean Hayesabout her lengthy career which, naturally, included one of her earliest big roles, the part of Elvira inScarface. Pfeiffer explained that though De Palma was keen on hiring her early on,Al Pacinowas not exactly sold. "Al will admit this," she explained, "[but] he didn't really want me for the part." Pfeiffer then detailed the lengthy auditioning process that happened before she finally landed the role. She said that in her first meeting with just De Palma and the casting director, she killed it, but "over the course of two months, I just [got] worse and worse and worse, because I'm justafraid. And by the end, I'm bad." She went on, "[So] I don't blame him. He just was like, '[She's] bad.' And Brian finally comes to me and says, 'You know, doll, it's just not gonna work out. I'm like, 'I know, man. I'm sorry.' Because Brian really wanted me." But fate wasn't through with her. "As disappointed as I was," she said, "I was so happy to be done with it. So, like, at least a month goes by and I get a call, they want to bring me in to screen test. So I show up and I don't even give a sh--, 'cause I know I'm not getting this part." Pfeiffer then explained that "it was my best work of the film." Theo Wargo/Getty She shared that it was "that restaurant scene where I explode at the end." (We're assuming you've seenScarfaceby now.) She continued, "I swipe the table of the dishes and glasses break, the dishes break, cut. There's blood everywhere. They all run over to me, to see where I've cut myself. Well, didn't cutme. I cut Al." Whoopsie! Pfeiffer said, "I thought, 'Well, there goesthatpart.' [But] actually I think that was the day [Pacino] was like, 'Yeah, yeah. I think, yeah, she's not bad.'" Taylor Hill/FilmMagic In conclusion, the best way to gain employment in Hollywood is to injure whoever is top of the call sheet. If it worked for Michelle Pfeiffer, it'll probably work for you, too. Sign up forEntertainment Weekly's free daily newsletterto get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more. If that story hasn't motivated you enough, here's the "everything is going our way/nothing will ever come back and bite us in the rear" montage fromScarface,set to a Giorgio Moroder tune. To check out more of Michelle Pfeiffer onSmartLess, you can click the link below. Read the original article onEntertainment Weekly
