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What if the words you never said still have somewhere to go? In this story, Aaron revisits one of the most powerful monologues in film and turns it into something unexpected, a way to process the moments in life where we stayed silent but wish we hadn’t.

Excerpt from Scent of a Woman (1992)
Produced and distributed by Universal Pictures
Directed by Martin Brest
Screenplay by Bo Goldman
Based on the novel Il buio e il miele by Giovanni Arpino
Colonel Frank Slade portrayed by Al Pacino

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The Team:

Story created & performed by: Aaron Calafato

Senior Audio Engineer: Ken Wendt

Additional vocals: Cori Calafato

Art: Pete Whitehead

Original Theme Music: thomas j. duke

Additional Soundscape Design: Isaac Gehring

TRANSCRIPT

Pretending to Be Pacino or The Speech You Wish You’d Given

Have you ever wished your life was a movie?

Not the explosions. Not the soundtrack.
I mean a moment.

The one where everything stops.
Where the truth finally gets said out loud.
Where the person getting away with something… isn’t anymore.

And someone stands up, maybe it’s you, and says the thing that makes the whole room go quiet.

Because in real life, we don’t always get that.

Most of the time, we just carry it.
The frustration. The injustice.
The things we wish we would’ve said.

Recently, I shared a reel on Instagram featuring one of my favorite monologues in film.
Al Pacino, Scent of a Woman.

If you’ve seen it, you know the moment.
If you haven’t, there are spoilers ahead. But it’s still worth watching.

There’s a kid named Charlie.
He doesn’t come from much, but he earns his way into an elite prep school.

He gets caught in the middle of something he didn’t start.
And by the end of the film, he has to make a choice:

Protect his future by turning on his classmates…
Or stand by his principles and risk losing everything.

And just when it feels like the system is about to come down on him…

In walks an unlikely ally.
A man with a past.
Colonel Frank Slade, played by Al Pacino.

What happens next is one of those moments.

So here’s what I’m going to do.

I’m going to perform the monologue as it is in the film.

Not as Al Pacino.
Not as a blind, retired lieutenant colonel.
And definitely not as well as Al.

But I am going to step into something real.

A moment I’m thinking about right now.
A person I’m picturing.
A situation where something isn’t right.

Maybe it’s saying the thing.
Maybe it’s defending someone.
Maybe it’s calling something out.
That’s the twist.

Hang on until the end, because there might be something here for you too.

I’ll talk to you in a few minutes.

Excerpt from Scent of a Woman (1992)
Produced and distributed by Universal Pictures
Directed by Martin Brest
Screenplay by Bo Goldman
Based on the novel Il buio e il miele by Giovanni Arpino
Colonel Frank Slade portrayed by Al Pacino

Mr. Trask: I'm going to recommend to the disciplinary committee that you be expelled, Mr. Sims. You are a cover-up artist and you are a liar.

Frank Slade: But not a snitch.

Trask: Excuse me?

Slade: No, I don't think I will.

Trask: Mr. Slade.

Slade: This is such a crock of shit.

Trask: Please watch your language, Mr. Slade. You are in the Baird School not a barracks. Mr. Sims, I will give you one final opportunity to speak up.

Slade: Mr. Sims doesn't want it. He doesn't need to labeled: "Still worthy of being a 'Baird Man.'" What the hell is that? What is your motto here? "Boys, inform on your classmates, save your hide" -- anything short of that we're gonna burn you at the stake? Well, gentlemen, when the shit hits the fan some guys run and some guys stay. Here's Charlie facing the fire; and there's George hidin' in big Daddy's pocket. And what are you doin'? You're gonna reward George and destroy Charlie.

Trask: Are you finished, Mr. Slade?
Slade:No, I'm just gettin' warmed up. I don't know who went to this place, William Howard Taft, William Jennings Bryan, William Tell -- whoever. Their spirit is dead -- if they ever had one -- it's gone. You're building a rat ship here. A vessel for sea goin' snitches. And if you think you're preparing these minnows for manhood you better think again. Because I say you are killing the very spirit this institution proclaims it instills! What a sham. What kind of a show are you guys puttin' on here today. I mean, the only class in this act is sittin' next to me. And I'm here to tell ya this boy's soul is intact. It's non-negotiable. You know how I know? Someone here -- and I'm not gonna say who -- offered to buy it. Only Charlie here wasn't sellin'.

Trask: Sir, you are out of order!

Slade: Outta order? I'll show you outta order! You don't know what outta order is, Mr. Trask! I'd show you but I'm too old; I'm too tired; I'm too fuckin' blind. If I were the man I was five years ago I'd take a FLAME-THROWER to this place! Outta order. Who the hell you think you're talkin' to? I've been around, you know? There was a time I could see. And I have seen boys like these, younger than these, their arms torn out, their legs ripped off. But there isn't nothin' like the sight of an amputated spirit; there is no prosthetic for that. You think you're merely sendin' this splendid foot-soldier back home to Oregon with his tail between his legs, but I say you are executin' his SOUL!! And why?! Because he's not a Baird man! Baird men, ya hurt this boy, you're going to be Baird Bums, the lot of ya. And Harry, Jimmy, Trent, wherever you are out there, FUCK YOU, too!

Trask: Stand down, Mr. Slade!

Slade: I'm not finished! As I came in here, I heard those words, "cradle of leadership." Well, when the bough breaks, the cradle will fall. And it has fallen here; it has fallen. Makers of men; creators of leaders; be careful what kind of leaders you're producin' here. I don't know if Charlie's silence here today is right or wrong.

I'm not a judge or jury. But I can tell you this: he won't sell anybody out to buy his future!! And that, my friends, is called integrity! That's called courage! Now that's the stuff leaders should be made of. Now I have come to the crossroads in my life. I always knew what the right path was. Without exception, I knew. But I never took it. You know why? It was too damn hard. Now here's Charlie. He's come to the crossroads. He has chosen a path. It's the right path. It's a path made of principle -- that leads to character. Let him continue on his journey. You hold this boy's future in your hands, committee. It's a valuable future. Believe me. Don't destroy it! Protect it. Embrace it. It's gonna make ya proud one day -- I promise you.

Hooah.

Look, no one’s winning any Oscars for that.

There’s a reason I became a storyteller… not an actor.

But here’s what I wanted to share with you.

When I was in acting school in New York, we’d do monologues all the time.
Scene study. Character work.

And yeah, it helped us get better at performing.

But something else happened too.

It became therapy.

Because when I was dealing with something…
A person. A situation. Work.

You know those moments where you just have to bite your tongue?
Wear the mask. Get through it. Provide.

I’d take one of these monologues…

And I’d picture that person.

The boss.
The problem.
The thing I couldn’t say out loud.

And in performing it…
In stepping into that story…

I’d feel something shift.

It was cathartic.

And the next day, when I walked back into that situation…
I felt better.

Clearer.

Lighter.

So I’m saying this to you:

You don’t have to put it on a podcast.
You don’t even have to tell anyone you’re doing it.

But try it.

Pull a monologue online.
Find a book.
Step into a scene.

Especially now, when therapy can be expensive…

This might be something simple you can add to your life.

You might be surprised how you feel afterward.

Alright.

Next week, back to the regular stories.

Hooah.

I’ll talk to you then.