During a panel discussion at the Tribeca Film Festival on Thursday night, actors Michelle Pfeiffer, Al Pacino, and Steven Bauer reunited with director Brian De Palma to talk about the cult-favorite film Scarface, which is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year. The stars of the drug kingpin classic shared memories from the set and analyzed the movie’s cultural impact, but the event moderator Jesse Kornbluth drew the ire of the crowd when he directed his first question at Pfeiffer and asked, “What did you weigh?”
If you remember, Pfeiffer played Elvira, the wife of the Al Capone-inspired drug dealer Tony Montana, and she becomes progressively more distressed and addicted to cocaine as the film unfolds. According to Entertainment Weekly, Kornbluth said, “Michelle, as the father of a daughter, I’m concerned with body image. The preparation for this film what did you weigh?” The audience responded with loud boos, and Vanity Fair described that, “Pacino, Bauer, and De Palma immediately turned to look at her, shocked by the question.”
Pfeiffer herself was speechless for a few seconds and looked around the room, perplexed. Someone from the crowd could be heard telling her, “You don’t have to answer that.”
Kornbluth quickly countered, “This is not the question you think it is,” and Pfeiffer reluctantly responded, “Well, okay. “I don’t know, but I was playing a cocaine addict, so that was part of the physicality of the part which you have to consider.” She joked that she was living on “tomato soup and Marlboros.” The incident would have been over, but Kornbluth followed up with a question about what she ate when the shoot wrapped. She told him she didn’t remember, but said “probably Mexican food. Probably chips and guacamole.”
What fascination with her eating habits! Even if “body image” was the conceit of the question, she could have simply been asked what she did to prepare for the role, which would have offered a look into the psyche of her complex character in addition to the physicality she offered. Also, let’s keep in mind that her co-star Pacino played a cocaine addict who was gaunt, hollow-eyed, and haggard by the end of the film, too, but he wasn’t asked about his appearance and eating regimen.
The questions reflect how male and female actors often get wildly different questions about their roles and their craft. At a 2012 press conference for The Avengers, someone asked Scarlett Johansson and Robert Downey Jr. about their character preparation—only, they asked Downey about his character’s evolving “maturity,” and they asked Johansson about her diet. Johansson made headlines for turning to Downey and quipping, “How come you get the really interesting existential question, and I get the like, ‘rabbit food’ question?”
Let’s hope Pfeiffer gets meatier questions at the next Scarface reunion—there’s no doubt that the three-time Oscar-nominated actress has plenty to say that doesn’t involve weight or guac.