Tommy Tiernan tells hilarious story of Al Pacino and Brenda Fricker at the Oscars

Tiernan said that Fricker was the guest on his RTÉ talk show who made the biggest impact on him.

In response, he named Irish actress Brenda Fricker, leading him to tell a hilarious story involving her and Al Pacino at the 1990 Oscars.

Pacino was at the awards show because he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars for his role in the action crime flick Dick Tracy.

Fricker, meanwhile, had won the Best Actress Oscar the previous year for My Left Foot and as such was presenting the award for Pacino's category.

As Tiernan recounted: "She's backstage and she sees Al Pacino over near these stairs.

"And he's [mimes dry heaving] and she said: 'What's wrong?' and he's going: 'The stress of this, the stress. I can't.' He had never won an Oscar before.

"And she's holding the envelope for best actor and she says to him: 'Al,' she points to the envelope, and says: 'You have it.'

"He goes: 'Seriously,' she goes: 'Yeah, yeah'."

The problem was, however, she hadn't opened the envelope.

"So she goes out to present the Oscar," Tiernan recounts. "'And the Oscar goes to… Joe Pesci [for Goodfellas].'"

Al Pacino in Dick Tracy

Thankfully, after the alleged Fricker faux pas, Pacino didn't have to wait too long for his Academy Award.

At the 1992 Oscars, he picked up the Best Actor Oscar for his role in Scent of a Woman. Hoo-ah!

You can listen to Tommy Tiernan on You Must Be Jokin' here or anywhere you get podcasts.

Main image via Rolling News

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