It sounds like Al Pacino’s son with ex Noor Alfallah is one super-advanced baby – the 84-year-old actor says that the one-year-old regularly sends him text messages.
In an interview with the BBC to promote his new autobiography, Sonny Boy, the actor confirmed that he doesn’t live with baby Roman, 16 months, who Alfallah, 30, has physical custody of – but they do chat regularly (and we’re guessing mom probably controls the phone!).
“He does text me from time to time,” said Pacino “Everything he does is real. Everything he does is interesting to me. So, we talk. I play the harmonica with him on the other video thing, and we have made this kind of contact. So, it’s fun.”
Pacino recently revealed that he came close to death in 2020 after contracting COVID-19 – but after becoming a father for the fourth time at 83, he now has a renewed determination to stick around.
“I want to be around for this child,” he told the BBC. “And I hope I am. I hope I stay healthy, and he knows who his dad is, of course.”
When it first emerged that Alfallah had full custody of baby Roman, she and Pacino said they were still in a relationship. However, last week their reps confirmed that they are no longer a couple. “Al and Noor are very good friends, have been for years, and are coparents to their son Roman,” they told People.
The custody arrangement which was drawn up three months after Roman’s birth means that, while Alfallah has sole physical custody of their toddler, Pacino has visitation rights and input into big decisions around education, religion and medical treatment. “Al and Noor have successfully worked together and have mutually reached agreements regarding their child, Roman,” confirmed their spokesperson in a statement to Us.
As well as being dad to Roman, Pacino shares daughter Julie, 34, with ex Jan Tarrant, and twins Olivia and Anton, 23, with ex Beverly D’Angelo.
Last week, in another interview to promote his book, the Godfather star talked about his brush with death when he lost consciousness while suffering from COVID-19. “I thought I experienced death,” he said. “I might not have. I don’t think I have, really. I know I made it. I didn’t see the white light or anything. There’s nothing there.”
After becoming a father again and deciding to write Sonny Boy, Pacino is on a mission to stay alive. “That has been a campaign for me to stick around a little longer if it’s possible,” he told People. And the actor is pretty busy for a man in his ninth decade: he’s also currently working on Lear Rex, a movie adaptation of William Shakespeare’s King Lear, alongside Jessica Chastain.