Al Pacino’s Scarface didn’t just electrify the big screen—it threw a lifeline to its screenwriter/director. The man behind Tony Montana’s coke-fueled rise and fall spent years buried in his own blizzard of bad choices. But diving into the film’s raw world of addiction and ambition gave the director something unexpected—a wake-up call.

Al Pacino in Serpico | Credits: Paramount Pictures

While Tony lost everything chasing power, the 1983 thriller flick’s director found clarity behind the camera, transforming his story from self-destruction to redemption.

From Addiction to Iconic: How Scarface Reshaped Oliver Stone’s Life and Legacy Kevin Costner and Oliver Stone on the sets of JFK | Warner Bros.

The making of Scarface was a life-altering journey for its screenwriter, Oliver Stone. In the 1980s, Hollywood’s love affair with cocaine was no secret, and Stone was no exception. When tasked with penning the script for the 1983 gangster epic,...