The long, lone sequences establish an hallucinatory confessional with the audience…" Playing with his gun and practicing his bravado in front of a mirror—a scene the actor improvised—De Niro tries out the memorable line: "You talkin' to me?
Over the next quarter-century, De Niro would become one of the most prolific and celebrated actors in Hollywood. He was known for immersing himself in his roles—so much so that for many years he often went unrecognized in public. One of De Niro's acclaimed early portrayals came in the controversial, Oscar-winning Vietnam War drama The Deer Hunter, in which he played a redneck steelworker traumatized by his combat experiences.
To grow into the role, he entered the world of Ohio Valley steel mills. I wanted to work a shift at the mill, but they wouldn't let me.
Shooting combat scenes in Thailand, he and co-star John Savage were almost killed while doing their own stunt work, dropping from a flying helicopter's runners into a river.
Critics were astounded by the intensity of De Niro's tight-lipped character. Thomson wrote: " The Deer Hunter would not have existed without De Niro's fierce generation of pain and honor…" De Niro was nominated for another Academy Award and might have won it were it not for overwhelming public sympathy for Peter Finch, who had starred in Network and then died before the Oscar voting. Before filming began, he took a year's worth of boxing lessons and spent months at the real Jake La Motta's apartment, absorbing everything he could about the man.
After the film's early scenes were shot with a lean, trim De Niro, production stopped while De Niro literally grew into the part of the fighter as an older, obese man. By eating his way across France and Italy, he gained 60 pounds in two months. De Niro explained after the filming: "I just can't fake acting. I know movies are an illusion and the first rule is to fake it, but not for me. I'm too curious.
I want to deal with all the facts of the character, thin or fat…. Just by having the weight on, it really made me feel a certain way and behave in a certain way…. It was a little like going to a foreign land. The result was an intensely personal performance. In the scenes with Cathy Moriarty, and with the 'guys,' there were remarkable insights into sexual insecurity or ambivalence. Once established as a star, De Niro refused to settle for sure box-office hits.
Continually testing his range, he made a number of unusual role choices, including a romantic comedy with Meryl Streep, Falling in Love, which bombed with critics and at the box office. Though he is most closely associated with a gangster persona, De Niro's roles have varied widely.
They include a struggling musician in the unsuccessful Scorcese musical New York, New York and an incarnation of Lucifer in Alan Parker's black comedy Angel Heart for which De Niro grew long hair and a beard and studied the most evil men in history.
He also portrayed the Frankenstein creature in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein ;an unfunny would-be comedian in The King of Comedy, a drug-addicted ex-felon in Jackie Brown ; a repressed priest in True Confessions ; and a catatonic patient in Awakenings. De Niro specialized in difficult, complex characters who represented the dark side of human nature.
In , he received another Oscar nomination for his role as a loathsome ex-felon in Cape Fear. Thomson wrote: "His character was so intricately nasty, so repellent, and so clever, that one wondered if the actor hadn't developed too much devil worship. Good characters or characters who are only positive tend to be unbelievable and boring. Self - Interviewee segment "The Irishman". Self - At 'The Irishman' Premiere. Self - Actor. Self - Actor, Raging Bull. Henson Documentary Self.
Self - Interviewee. Self - Power Player of the Week. Self segment "Watter's World". Documentary short Self. Self - Guest uncredited. Self - President. DeMille Award Recipient. Self - Guest as Robert DeNiro. Self - Host.
Self - Business Partner. Come Visit the World Short documentary Self. Hide Show Archive footage credits. Show all 17 episodes. Another Night Video short Clients. Self as Robert DeNiro. Jimmy Conway. Show and Trailer Tribute! Paul Vitti. Self segment "Watters' World". Paul Vitti segment "Watters' World". Billy The Kid McDonnen. Benjamin Ford. The Creature. Michael uncredited. Paul Vitti uncredited. Haben Sie welche? Robert DeNiro Harry Tuttle uncredited. Short Self.
Moe Tilden. TV Movie documentary Self. Related Videos. Let me try it. That's why I have TriBeCa. It's the most exciting city in the world now. That's the way it is. That's it. I've never been one of those actors who has touted myself as a fascinating human being.
I had to decide early on wether I was to be an actor or a personality. They are real so they have as much right to be portrayed as any other characters. There are other characters I have played, other than those ones that have been called stereotypes or whatever. People treat me with a bit too much reverence. Look at Dustin Hoffman. I always envy the way he can speak and be smart and funny and so on.
I just can't do that. People have tried to compare us to one another, to pit us against one another and to tear us apart personally. I've never seen the comparison, frankly. I'm clearly much taller, more the leading-man type. Honestly, you just may be the finest actor of our generation--with the possible exception of me. One of the things about acting is it allows you to live other people's lives without having to pay the price. I am part Italian, I'm not all Italian.
But my name is Italian and I probably identify more with my Italian side than with my other parts. If there is a God, he has a lot to answer for. You'll have time to rest when you're dead. After my first movies, I gave interviews. Then I thought, "What's so important about where I went to school, and hobbies? What does any of that have to do with acting, with my own head? There is a mixture of anarchy and discipline in the way I work. The talent is in the choices.
I stand for John Kerry. I hope he will arrive at the White House. We need a different government to represent America. The change of presidency would be a clear and international sign to say that we are approaching again to the rest of the world.
I don't want any prize that can influence this election. I stand for Kerry. We improvised. For some reason it touched a nerve. That happens. Some people say, "New York's a great place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. It's true: I spent lunchtime in a grave during the filming of Bloody Mama When you're younger, you feel that's what you need to do to help you stay in character. When you get older, you become more confident and less intense about it--and you can achieve the same effect.
You might even be able to achieve more if you take your mind off it, because you're relaxed. That's the key to it all. When you're relaxed and confident, you get good stuff. Movies are hard work. The public doesn't see that.
The critics don't see it. But they're a lot of work. A lot of work. When I'm directing a great dramatic scene, part of me is saying, "Thank God, I don't have to do that". Because I know how fucking hard it is to act. It's the middle of the night. It's freezing. You gotta do this scene. You gotta get it up to get to that point. And yet, as a director, you've got to get the actors to that point.
It's hard either way. I went in there and the director said to me, "Vy do you vant to be an acteh? And he said, "To express yourself! That's right. I went to my apartment, which looks south, and I watched it out my window. I could see the line of fire across the North Tower. I had my binoculars and a video camera--though I didn't want to video it. I saw a few people jump. Then I saw the South Tower go.
It was so unreal, I had to confirm it by immediately looking at the television screen. CNN was on. That was the only way to make it real.
Like my son said: "It was like watching the moon fall". The hardest thing about being famous is that people are always nice to you. You're in a conversation and everybody's agreeing with what you're saying--even if you say something totally crazy. You need people who can tell you what you don't want to hear. I didn't have a problem with rejection, because when you go into an audition, you're rejected already.
There are hundreds of other actors. You're behind the eight ball when you go in there. At this point in my career, I don't have to deal with audition rejections. So I get my rejection from other things. My children can make me feel rejected. They can humble you pretty quick. Money makes your life easier.
If you're lucky to have it, you're lucky. Nobody has moved me from my seat yet. But, just in case, I've bought my own restaurants. The fear factor is always there--everything from losing tens of millions of dollars on a film that doesn't work to not being able to get a good table in a top restaurant because your last movie flopped. It is good to have a few other interests [restaurants, hotels, the TriBeca Film Festival]. But my main interest has always been movies--making them, directing them, being involved.
I have never lost the passion for that. I like New York because I can still walk the streets and sit down in a bar or restaurant and observe people. If you can't properly observe, as an actor, you're finished. The impression sometimes given is that I can't leave my own home without being recognized or bothered in the street.
That's just not true. I can go out, at leisure, meet people for lunch or take my kids to the park. I don't think I am glamorous enough for Hollywood. I have lived in Los Angeles, working in Hollywood, countless times, doing movies. I am not against the place. I was not a young actor kicking around, living by the seat of my pants, desperate for work. I went by invitation, and my experiences have been good ones.
But I have never chosen to live there full-time. I've always done comedies. There were comic elements in Mean Streets and even Taxi Driver And I did The King of Comedy I've always had what I consider to be a good sense of humor.
There is this image that has been built up--invented, more like--and there's me, living the life. I do not consider myself some sort of acting legend, just an actor doing his best with the material that is there at the time. You can look into my background all you like, but I have never had problems with authority on film sets.
Even if I disagree with a director, I work through it. I am also not one for regrets. I don't regret any film I've made, because there was a reason for making it at the time.
If it hasn't worked out, then don't spend time worrying about why and how. Just move on to the next project. I don't think I am difficult compared to other people. It is hard to make a movie at the best of times, so you don't want to give people a hard time. People all have their own agendas. But it is not worth acting out something from your own history to make a point on a film set. If you have a problem with, say, your father or some other father figure, why give the director a tough time?
He's like an encyclopedia. I could call him up and ask him about a certain movie, and he would know about it. He's seen everything, it's great. You've got to earn the right to play them. It depends on the project [as to who would be] at the top of my list. I always wanted to direct. Directing is a lot more of a commitment though, a lot more time. I like directors who do very few takes, they know what they want. As for me, I know when I have a shot, but I might want back up, and one other take.
You never know. If it's about capturing a moment, you're never going to be able to go back and repeat it, you go with it. It's a tricky thing. I go through all the footage, and look at everything. Some things you learn from just being in movies, so I see what's getting done, how it's getting done. I know what making a film is going to take, how much time.
I almost don't even think about it. If I'm in a movie, I can sense if something is not quite right, if the rhythm is off. I know it's important to give everybody as much freedom as you can so that they don't feel there are any limitations.
With any mistake they could make, everything is fine. And then they're not afraid to try things or trust you when you say, "Look, let's try and go in this direction. I tried to become as close to being a steelworker as possible, and I would have worked a shift at the mill but they wouldn't let me. I just can't fake acting. I know movies are an illusion, and maybe the first rule is to fake it, but not for me. I'm too curious. I want to deal with all the facts of the character, thin or fat.
The fact that it's been restored--hard to believe that so many years have passed--is even all the better, and I can't wait to see it on our closing night. The first time I went to Vegas, I was I had a friend who was a dealer in a casino. It was real desert, still like the Wild West. Apparently, there's a nightclub scene now. Back then, you gambled and then, at a. When you're directing, you think of everything. The few times I've directed, if someone comes up with something you missed, you're glad to hear that.
I'm hoping that if things work out with digital technology, they can finally make us look younger and I can go on for another 40 years. He was a wonderful actor. This is one of those times where you say, "This just shouldn't be. He was so young and gifted and had so much going, so much to live for.
I mean, I'd do a play if I could find a great play, a modern play, a new play. But you can do more with film. I like the illusion. In like that you can create something and do it over and then put it together like a big puzzle. With a play, the most you can do is videotape it once and then put it in the archive at the Lincoln Center.
Films last. You put it on the screen and it's there forever, a little piece of history. What happens is, you see each other 10 or 15 years later, and it is as if the time has not passed. Because we got to know each other so well at an emotional or spiritual level; and it never goes away. He's a punk, he's a dog, he's a pig, he's a con, he's a mutt who doesn't know what he's talking about, he doesn't do his homework, doesn't care, thinks he's gaming his society, doesn't pay his taxes, he's an idiot.
Colin Powell said it best, he's a national disaster. He's an embarrassment to this country. It makes me so angry that this country has gotten to this point that this fool, this bozo, has wound up where he has. He talks how he wants to punch people in the face; well, I'd like to punch him in the face. This is somebody we want for president?
I don't think so. What I care about is the direction of this country, and what I'm very, very worried about is that it might go in the wrong direction with someone like Donald Trump. How dare he say that to the crowd? How dare he say the things he does? Of course, I want to punch him in the face.
It was only a symbolic thing, anyway. It wasn't like I was going to go find him and punch him in the face. But he's got to hear it. He's got to hear that, you know, that's how he makes people feel. It's not good to feel that way. It's not good to start that stuff up, but at the same time, sometimes when people are bullies like that, that's what you have to do to shut them up. Bully them back.
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