Random Fascinating Facts You Probably Didn't Know About 'Scarface' (15 items)

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  (#2) Pacino Did Not Want Michelle Pfeiffer To Play Elvira

  Michelle Pfeiffer only had one big screen credit, starring in the notorious box office flop Grease 2, before auditioning for the role of Tony's wife, Elvira Hancock. Unfortunately for the relatively unknown actor, most of Hollywood was also up for the coveted role. Fortunately for Pfeiffer, producer Martin Bregman liked the blonde bombshell for the part.

  Pacino, on the other hand, wanted to pass on Pfeiffer. "We continued auditions but I knew that it was going to be Michelle. And so did Brian," said Bregman. "But it took a little time to convince Al. He was concerned that she was not experienced enough and that she didn't look right. She didn't fit the image of Elvira that he had in his mind. But he was dead wrong. To put a long-standing rumor to rest: It wasn't Brian, it was Al who had the resistance to Michelle."

  Pacino told Martin Bregman that he wanted Glenn Close for Elvira. Bregman, however, ultimately made the call to cast Pfeiffer. Her portrayal of Elvira launched the actor's career and she became one of the most marketable stars of the '80s. 
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  (#12) Steven Spielberg Made A Directing Cameo

  You probably know this climactic scene; it's one of the most memorable in movie history. Tony Montana waits in his Miami mansion for his enemies to come and end him. There's an insane pile of coke on his desk as he clutches onto an M16 and grenade launcher. This is the part where he says, "Say hello to my little friend."

  Steven Spielberg was visiting his friend Brian De Palma on set the day the legendary scene was filming. The Jaws director wound up shooting one of the shots for the scene, in which a gangster tosses a grappling hook to the top of Tony's mansion. Spielberg did not receive a directing credit for his effort, just a chance to be part of cinema history. 
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  (#15) Brett Ratner Was An Extra In The Movie

  Hollywood producer and director Brett Ratner (Rush Hour, X-Men: The Last Stand) lived in Miami when he was a teenager. He played an extra in Scarface during a Miami street scene. Ratner said that he would skip school and go to the set every day where he would watch De Palma give direction to Pacino. That image of a director telling an actor what to do would stick with Ratner.

  Ratner did a Variety cover shoot with Pacino in 2007. He told Pacino how seeing him on the set of Scarface made him want to become a director. When Pacino asked him why that was, Ratner explained, "Because I saw you act and I could never be that good, so I wanted to be the guy who told you what to do."
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  (#14) 'Scarface' Is Al Pacino's Favorite Movie

  Al Pacino has been in some of the finest films in movie history, but his favorite is still Scarface. Despite the film's controversy and initial poor reviews, the actor always believed that the movie would remain relevant for decades to come.

  "The picture had a fire to it. That was part of Brian's concept, to do everything in an extraordinary way - to have the violence blown up, the language blown up," he explained. "The spirit of it was operatic. It didn't opt for sentiment but had an almost fable-like quality to it. It was probably the most popular picture I ever made, but the reaction to it was stranger than any of my other films. That picture did something to me. It was a lot of movie. You go to a movie, you get a lot of movie with Scarface."
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  (#3) Al Pacino Injured His Hand On Set

  Al Pacino and costar Steven Bauer, who played Manny Ribera, rehearsed for the gangster movie for several weeks before filming began. During one session, Pacino seriously hurt his hand with a machine gun. The injury would keep him out of the rehearsal room for two weeks.

  He explained how he received his injury: "I got shot! [...] I shot off 30 rounds. I get hit with the squibs. I start leaping up in the air, flying up in the air and I land and I go to grab the gun and guess what? I grabbed the barrel...on the gun that just shot off 30 rounds. My hand stuck to that sucker. That was it. I couldn't get my hand off of it. I couldn't work for two weeks." Now that's some commitment. 
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  (#4) Pacino Channeled Meryl Streep To Play Tony Montana

  Al Pacino could have looked to all the obvious choices for inspiration for his ruthless gangster character. There's his costar Marlon Brando from The Godfather, for one. He could have turned to Paul Muni from the original Scarface, or even Edward G. Robinson from Little Caesar.

  Instead, Pacino looked to Meryl Streep's work in one of the saddest movies in film history. "I was very inspired by Meryl Streep's work in Sophie's Choice. I thought that her way of involving herself in playing someone who is from another country and another world was particularly fine and committed and... courageous."

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