Al Pacino never took paycheck for controversial ‘Cruising’ film, donated anonymously to charity

Al Pacino starred in the controversial film, “Cruising.” ©United Artists/Courtesy Everett Collection

Al Pacino admits that his 1980 crime movie “Cruising” was “exploitative” — but “didn’t see it as that when I was doing it.”

The William Friedkin thriller about a serial killer targeting gay men on the leather scene was mired in controversy. Gay rights advocates protested during filming.

The Oscar winner writes in his memoir “Sonny Boy” that he was not “as sensitive” as he could have been at the time.

But the Oscar winner has revealed he never made a dime on the film. DISNEY via Getty Images The movie courted controversy even before it was released. ©United Artists/Courtesy Everett Collection

Producers begged him to defend the film, so he agreed because “after all they had paid me a lot of money, and I wasn’t going to just abandon them.”

“But I wanted to go somewhere far away from the madness. I’d had enough.”

But behind the scenes, the icon made amends.

“I never accepted the paycheck for ‘Cruising,’ ” he writes in his new book. Getty Images “I took the money and it was a lot, and I put it in an irrevocable trust fund,” he recalls. ©United Artists/Courtesy Everett Collection

“I never accepted the paycheck for ‘Cruising,’ ” he writes. “I took the money and it was a lot, and I put it in an irrevocable trust fund, meaning once I gave it, there was no taking it back.”

He disbursed the money, plus interest, to charities,

“I don’t know if it eased my conscience,” the actor admits in the book, “but at least the money did some good.”

“I don’t know if it eased my conscience,” the actor admits in the book, “but at least the money did some good.” ©United Artists/Courtesy Everett Collection Pacino is only now making it public as the donations were anonymous. Getty Images

Pacino is only now making it public as the donations were anonymous.

“I didn’t want to make it a p.r. stunt,” he explained. “I just wanted one positive thing to come out of that whole experience.”

Pacino, 84, also writes that despite the initial public drubbing his destined-to-become legendary crime epic “Scarface” received, it’s now considered a classic.

The star says he supported the 1980 film publicly at the time. ©United Artists/Courtesy Everett Collection

“To this day it’s still the biggest film I ever did,” he reveals in the book. “The residuals still support me. I can live on it. I mean, if I lived like a normal person. But it does contribute, let’s put it that way.”

He does have mouths to feed, after all. The octogenarian welcomed son Roman with his now-ex-girlfriend Noor Alfallah last June.