Legendary actor Al Pacino screwed up the biggest award presentation of the night at the 96th annual Academy Awards, Sunday.
The “Scarface” actor was awkward from the moment he took the stage. If there was an award for worst presenter, he’d be getting top prize. Pacino had one job to do — announce the nominees, followed by the winner — but that was apparently not his plan. The famous actor failed to even mention the nominees in the Best Picture category, which was the biggest award of the night. He skipped over that part entirely, then mumbled, “Here it comes. And my eyes see Oppenheimer, yes!” Everyone looked around looking utterly confused, seemingly questioning if that was an actual announcement.
I’m obsessed with the way Al Pacino announced Oppenheimer as Best Picture. couldn’t have been more chaotic or confusing lol
“Best Picture…uh, I have to go to the envelope for that. And I will. Here it comes. And my eyes see Oppenheimer?”#Oscars pic.twitter.com/a0hNQ4ZP7j
— Spencer Althouse (@SpencerAlthouse) March 11, 2024
Pacino should have folded before he even began.
He looked disheveled as he walked out to a standing ovation, then proceeded to make an awkward joke about Shakespeare that didn’t land.
“Wow. What … thank you. Oh, my friends. Thank you, thank you,” he said, as he recognized the room of his peers who took to their feet to give him a standing ovation.
Actor Al Pacino arrives in the press after presenting the Oscar for Best Picture to “Oppenheimer” during the 96th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on March 10, 2024. Photo by Robyn BECK / AFP
Al Pacino speaks onstage during the 96th Annual Academy Awards at Dolby Theatre on March 10, 2024 in Hollywood, California. Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images
“I don’t know. Should I do some Shakespeare now? That’s in order, right? ‘To be …’ no, I’m not going to do, Sorry.” he said.
Everyone looked genuinely confused by the reference.
Pacino plowed on.
“Well, this is the time for the last award of the evening. And it’s my honor to present it,” Pacino said.
“Ten wonderful films are nominated, but only one will take the award for best picture. And I have to go to the envelope for that. And I will.”
Sadly, he didn’t.
Actor Al Pacino during An Evening With Al Pacino at Eventim Apollo on May 22, 2015 in London, England. Photo by Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images
Actor Al Pacino visits the SiriusXM Studios on January 21, 2015 in New York City. Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SiriusXM
The star completely skipped over the part where he was supposed to name the nominees in the biggest category of the night. He didn’t list the movies, and the cameras had nowhere to pan to without his cue. The biggest movie nominees were completely eliminated from his speech.
Then he fumbled with the card, mumbled words that were inaudible and slurred, and proceeded to fumble through the Oppenheimer announcement — if you can even call it that.
The cast of “Oppenheimer” awkwardly made their way to the stage.
Al Pacino presents the award for Best Picture onstage during the 96th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on March 10, 2024. Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images
We’ll help the guy out here, and give the other movies the credit they’re due. (RELATED: John Cena Presented Oscars Award While Naked)
The other films nominated in the category of Best Picture were “American Fiction,” “Anatomy of a Fall,” “Barbie,” “The Holdovers,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Maestro,” “Past Lives,” “Poor Things” and “The Zone of Interest.”