Al Pacino Admits the Movie “Cruising” Was “Exploitative” of Gays
The 84-year-old actor reveals in his new memoir that he anonymously donated his salary from the film to various charities.
After decades of remaining silent, Al Pacino has finally admitted that the 1980 film Cruising, in which he starred, was “exploitative” of the gay community.
The 84-year-old actor makes the revelation in his memoir, Sonny Boy, noting that he was so uncomfortable with how director William Friedkin’s film portrayed gay people that he never used the money he earned from the film for his personal gain.
“I never accepted the paycheck for Cruising,” Pacino writes. “I took the money and it was a lot, and I put it in an irrevocable trust fund, meaning once I gave it, there was no taking it back. I don’t know if it eased my conscience, but at least the money did some good.”
The movie, adapted from Gerald Walker’s 1970 novel, caused uproar among segments of the gay and lesbian community at the time it was released. Pacino’s character, a New York City police detective, goes undercover as a gay man with the intent of catching a serial killer who has been targeting gay men.
Pacino said he signed on to be part of the crime thriller because he wanted to be part of a project that was “pushing the envelope.”
However, the film’s depiction of the underground gay leather and S&M scene of the 1970s as seamy and overtly sexual (there’s a fisting scene), as well as the fact that the alleged serial killer in the film is presumably a self-loathing gay psychotic, sparked outrage among members of the gay community, who worried that the film’s depiction painted gay men as depraved, violent, and dangerous.
Activists organized large-scale protests urged a boycott of the film, with one pamphlet claiming that the movie would “reinforce and foster” feelings of ‘hatred and fear” against gay men. Many worried that the film’s villain being depicted as gay would lead to episodes of violence directed against members of the gay community.
Friedkin would tell The Wrap in a 2013 interview that he “never intended the film to be critical of gays,” but simply thought that “the S&M world would make a good backdrop for a murder mystery.”
He also praised Pacino’s performance as “pretty damn effective,” even though the two men allegedly clashed during filming.
“I did not in any way mean for it to reflect the gay lifestyle,” Friedkin said. “I understood at the time that people who were trying to achieve gay rights were not going to appreciate such a tough picture. It’s still very tough, very hard-edged and ambiguous.”
Pacino notes in Sonny Boy that Cruising drew multiple protests from gay activists, both across New York City and even during filming, as well as calls for a boycott of the film. However, he intentionally “remained quiet” about the controversy. “After all, they had paid me a lot of money, and I wasn’t going to just abandon them,” he said of United Artists, the studio behind the film.
Instead, Pacino claims, he set up a trust with his salary from the film and anonymously donated to various charities over the years.
“I didn’t want to make it a P.R. stunt,” he said. “I just wanted one positive thing to come out of that whole experience.”
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