Al Pacino grew up in poverty in the South Bronx, dropped out of school at 17, and turned a lifetime of anxiety into the most intense performances in American film. From Michael Corleone to Tony Montana to the devil himself, he built characters fueled by the same nervous energy that nearly kept him off the stage.

This episode traces how his Method training, his crippling stage fright, and his refusal to play it safe made him the most compelling screen actor of his generation.

• His early poverty and the grandmother who raised him
• How Lee Strasberg’s Method shaped his approach to character
• The Godfather audition that almost did not happen
• Why his most excessive performances reveal more than his restrained ones