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Al Pacino feels 'lucky' to have escaped depression

Al Pacino on Loaded cover
Al Pacino on Loaded cover

Al Pacino considers himself ''lucky'' to have been ''spared'' the pain of depression, an illness which has affected so many of his fellow actors.

The 74-year-old screen legend admits he has had points in his life where he has felt low, especially when he battled alcoholism, but he has never been afflicted with the disease that has affected many of his peers, such as the late Robin Williams and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

In an interview with the new issue of Loaded magazine, he said: ''I may be depressed, but I don't know about it. People go into depression and it's very, very sad and it can last and it's terrifying. I know that I've had bouts with stuff that comes to close to that, but not that intensity. I feel spared, I feel lucky.''

Pacino no longer drinks after coming close to reaching ''rock bottom'' with booze, but hinted there would have been some crazy photographs of him if smartphones had existed in the 70s at the height of his partying. The 'Donnie Brasco' star said: ''(Smartphones) that's the new world. Believe it or not I lived in another world a while back where there were no selfies or cameras at all. So it was just red carpets.''

Asked if he enjoys the non-stop attention from fans in this decade, he added: ''Oh I love it, I just love it ... Look, I've been around just too damn long and people just know you. It's because people grew up with you, that's part of the thing, they grew up with your films.'' The full interview with Al Pacino can be found in the new issue of men's magazine Loaded out now.

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