News Values: Human Interest

Human Interest. This is an sample of human interest because it explains the struggle that Al Pacino went through when he forgot to tip, and the bad publicity that came with it.

Toronto: Al Pacino faces his worst nightmare

TORONTO — These are the cold sweats that keep Hollywood awake at night.

No, it's not being caught not tipping, although Pacino remembers all too well the one time thatheadline ended up splashed across newspapers. "It's not hard to be a good tipper. Especially when you've got money. But the one time I forgot to tip, I was in the middle of some kind of thing and I left. It was way before Twitter. But the headlines!" he grabs his head.

A far scarier fate awaits his character in The Humbling. Pacino plays Simon, a legendary stage actor whose gift is ebbing. The audience is no longer enraptured and he's begun to forget his lines. After a 30-day stint in a rehab clinic for depression, Simon returns to his little-used estate, where he falls swiftly for a complicated younger woman (Greta Gerwig).

The emotionally draining stage actor's life was "something I'm familiar with" said Pacino, who bought the rights to Philip Roth's novel and began to set up the project, roping in director Barry Levinson. (Pacino also has another film at the fest,Manglehorn.) "It's easier with an athlete because you know when he's done. With an actor, you keep going because you've interpreted people for a long time."

The last time Pacino felt completely wrung out by his chosen profession? "Seven or eight months ago," he says. But, "what revives you … if you feel a connection to what you're going to do or you read something, it still happens. That's what keeps us going."

Gerwig finished the play The Village Bike in July, leaving her drained. "After it was done I felt like I had to take myself away from New York for a couple weeks. It was one of those plays where you get off the stage every night and feel like, now I need whiskey."

Pacino nods. "As Olivier used to say, what he liked best about acting was to drink after the show."

The actor travels back to his meteoric rise in '70s cinema, recalling the high expectations he faced after The Godfather, "which probably did put pressure on me. At one point, I took four years off. As a young actor I never wanted to make movies that much, to be honest with you. I was lucky and I'm grateful but they were confusing me at the time, coming out of the theater."

Pacino ducked the spotlight until "finally I ran out of money. But I found the magic of film. I fell in love with it again."

The Humbling is up for sale at the festival.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2014/09/06/al-pacino-the-humbling-toronto-film-festival/15190905/