Al Pacino on suffering from depression: 'It can last and it's terrifying'

The veteran actor said that he felt 'spared' and 'lucky' that he is yet to have been derailed by the mental health condition

Al Pacino has opened up about the struggles he and others have faced when battling depression.

The veteran actor said that he felt "spared" and "lucky" that he is yet to have been derailed by the mental health condition that has led to the deaths of so many – including Robin Williams.

Speaking at Venice Film Festival, he said: "I may be depressed but I don't know about it.

"People go into depression and it's very, very sad and it can last and it's terrifying.

"I know that, I've had bouts with stuff that comes close to that, but not with that intensity. I feel spared, I feel lucky."

"In Godfather II, I would imagine Michael Corleone was depressed," he added.

Pacino was at the festival to promote two films – The Humbling and Manglehorn.

On the role he plays in the former, in which he stars as an aging actor who strikes up an affair with a younger woman, he said: "The character is getting older and the feelings he has for his work are becoming less available to him, so he tries to compensate and becomes a little off and confused and slips into a kind of depression that expresses itself in his work."