Superhero movies have nothing on ‘Hunters’ starring Al Pacino in Amazon Prime series now streaming.
“Hunters” stars Al Pacino (center) as the leader of “avengers” seeking to bring Nazis to justice. (Photo: Christopher Saunders/Amazon Studios)
Al Pacino stars as the leader of a group of Nazi hunters who uncover a plot to overthrow the U.S. government. “It was a wonderful experience,” he said about doing the thrilling series and playing his role as sort of a superhero avenger.
Hunters was inspired by a number of real life Nazi hunters who uncovered war criminals and brought them to justice. The series gives the action a superhero adventure spin to the historical fiction. It is unsettling at times but draws you into the compelling story.
David Weil, Hunters’ creator and executive producer, said the idea sprung from his childhood memories. “My grandmother was a Holocaust survivor. She would tell me stories about the war. As a young kid, 6-years-old, those stories (felt) like the stuff of comic books and superheroes.” So that led to Hunters getting that super-adventure save-the-world feel, making Pacino the leader of Nazi-hunting “Justice League” or “X-men” team types.
When Pacino appeared on the Amazon Prime panel during the Television Critics Association Winter press tour in January 2020, he talked about the story that is set in the 1970s in New York City. Pacino plays Meyer Offerman, a Jewish philanthropist and Holocaust survivor who recruits and heads the “hunters.” It becomes a bloody quest to thwart the Nazi war criminals who are conspiring to create a Fourth Reich in the U.S.
Pacino was almost giddy about promoting the show. “I’m hearing myself say it and I’m wondering— am I doing a sell job here or what,” he enthused about the project.
Pacino referred to the Hunters series as a ten-hour movie, and explained that it was different than working on the lengthy film The Irishman, which earned him his ninth Oscar nomination.
“It’s just a different environment. For one thing, every two to three weeks you get a new director. It’s an adjustment, but it’s a strong story and the players are together with you,” he said about the cast which includes Logan Lerman, Jerrika Hinton, Lena Olin, Saul Rubinek, Carol Kane, Josh Radnor, Dylan Baker, and Kate Mulvany.
Al Pacino and Logan Lerman
With all the scripts that he is offered, why did Hunters stand out? Pacino said, “Because there’s an originality in this and it’s somewhat eccentric. All of a sudden you’ll see it from certain angles. It isn’t just a dead dry thing. There are a lot of elements in it that catch you off guard. It holds your interest because you never know when a joke is going to come. That really appealed to me when I read it. Things that are not what they seem. It’s a surprise.”
At age 79, Pacino talked about his acting process when asked if he drew on somebody that he knew to get into his character. The method actor explained to the TCA journalists, “I’ve known so many people. I’ve done so many roles, maybe that’s going to become my new answer to things—I don’t know, I’m old, leave me alone. Mainly I get it from the writing. That’s what inspired me. The whole act of acting is being free enough to let those things you’ve learned and saw to come to the forefront. That comes with experience. That’s a shout out for actors to do a lot of parts.”
Pacino’s great work on the big screen has included The Godfather trilogy, Dog Day Afternoon, Serpico, Scarface, Scent Of A Woman, and he played Jimmy Hoffa in The Irishman for director Martin Scorsese. In recent years, he has been playing more real-life people. On TV for HBO he has played Phil Spector, Joe Paterno, Roy Cohn, and Jack Kevorkian. Now he’s sort of a real superhero on a quest to rid the world of Nazis, fighting the good fight.
Tune in Hunters on Amazon Prime.
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