Robert De Niro: In Conversation
Published: November 13, 2012 87 Comments
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A.S.: How so?
R.D.: He’s much more — [in the book] he’s very taciturn, goes in his room all the time. He’s still a fanatic, but he just gets in his room and he won’t come out. It’s a great character, it’s just totally different. Mine is more reversed — inside out, however you want to say it.
R.D.: He’s much more — [in the book] he’s very taciturn, goes in his room all the time. He’s still a fanatic, but he just gets in his room and he won’t come out. It’s a great character, it’s just totally different. Mine is more reversed — inside out, however you want to say it.
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A.S.: One of the things that’s amazing about that movie is the rhythm, the sense of chaos in that household, when you and Jacki Weaver and Bradley Cooper are together. The sense that at any moment things could go in any direction, either funny or horrible.
R.D.: David has a very unusual style of directing. You’ve got the camera moving around, he’ll push the camera over to this character, to that character, he’ll throw lines at you and you repeat them. And I don’t mind that, that’s all great. It’s a particular way of working and gets right to it and it’s spontaneous. You just have to go with it. He understands that whole chaotic thing. It’s part of his — I don’t want to say meshugas, but maybe it is. It’s his craziness. But a lovable craziness.
R.D.: David has a very unusual style of directing. You’ve got the camera moving around, he’ll push the camera over to this character, to that character, he’ll throw lines at you and you repeat them. And I don’t mind that, that’s all great. It’s a particular way of working and gets right to it and it’s spontaneous. You just have to go with it. He understands that whole chaotic thing. It’s part of his — I don’t want to say meshugas, but maybe it is. It’s his craziness. But a lovable craziness.
A.S.: I was comparing this role to some of your other recent movies, and it does seem like a few of the characters you’ve been playing recently are fathers.
R.D.: Then it will be grandfathers and if I’m lucky great-great-grandfathers if I’m still standing.
R.D.: Then it will be grandfathers and if I’m lucky great-great-grandfathers if I’m still standing.
A.S.: It was really interesting to look at Pat Solitano in “Silver Linings” and compare that to another recent performance that I thought was terrific, and completely different, which was Jonathan Flynn in “Being Flynn.”
R.D.: It is a variation on a theme — the father regretting certain things. That’s the theme; and that’s what a lot of parents do: regrets and things. And if it’s written well it’s good, and worth expressing in a movie.
R.D.: It is a variation on a theme — the father regretting certain things. That’s the theme; and that’s what a lot of parents do: regrets and things. And if it’s written well it’s good, and worth expressing in a movie.
A.S.: When you looked at this character in “Silver Linings,” did you think of specific things that you could do to express that sense of regret?
R.D.: With “Silver Linings” I didn’t feel — I was thinking of certain things, but I just said, “Let me go with it.” You have to know what you’re doing, where you’re going with the scenes, and I put a lot of work into that. But when you’re out there at the same time you gotta be ready for anything.
R.D.: With “Silver Linings” I didn’t feel — I was thinking of certain things, but I just said, “Let me go with it.” You have to know what you’re doing, where you’re going with the scenes, and I put a lot of work into that. But when you’re out there at the same time you gotta be ready for anything.
A.S.: You obviously do a lot of work with a lot of different directors. Are there times when you come in with your own idea of the character?
R.D.: When I’m in it, I’ve already decided I’m going to work with the directors, so we have an understanding about what’s going to happen. I don’t get into these long-winded heavy discussions about character — do we do this or that or what. At the end of the day, what you gotta do is just go out there and do it. And the director respects what they’ve hired you for and chosen you for: to do the part and respect what you’re doing.
R.D.: When I’m in it, I’ve already decided I’m going to work with the directors, so we have an understanding about what’s going to happen. I don’t get into these long-winded heavy discussions about character — do we do this or that or what. At the end of the day, what you gotta do is just go out there and do it. And the director respects what they’ve hired you for and chosen you for: to do the part and respect what you’re doing.
A.S.: So you don’t get thrown by different styles? Like an improvisational style like David Russell’s?
R.D.: David was something I could understand. But there’s a problem if you have a director who gives you things that are just a little goofy and you can’t relate to them, and you can’t connect on any level. I try never to get myself in that situation.
R.D.: David was something I could understand. But there’s a problem if you have a director who gives you things that are just a little goofy and you can’t relate to them, and you can’t connect on any level. I try never to get myself in that situation.
A.S.: What about being on the other side of that, when you’re the director?
R.D.: I always feel you have to be very, very — whatever an actor does they can do no wrong. And they have to have that feeling so that they can try anything they want. Even if it’s not right, it doesn’t matter. Maybe we’ll use part of it. It’s O.K., do it once your way and then do it my way and then we’ll decide, or I’ll decide later, which is really the best. And sometimes you do that just to let the person get it out. I know I’ve done that with myself. I’d do it and I get it out and then I realize it probably wasn’t right. But I got it out.
R.D.: I always feel you have to be very, very — whatever an actor does they can do no wrong. And they have to have that feeling so that they can try anything they want. Even if it’s not right, it doesn’t matter. Maybe we’ll use part of it. It’s O.K., do it once your way and then do it my way and then we’ll decide, or I’ll decide later, which is really the best. And sometimes you do that just to let the person get it out. I know I’ve done that with myself. I’d do it and I get it out and then I realize it probably wasn’t right. But I got it out.
A.S.: What was it like when you were younger, when you were coming into your own? You were working with some directors who were also young, who were your peers, people like Martin Scorsese and Bernardo Bertolucci.
R.D.: I’m older now, and I’m more experienced, so I don’t get thrown by the directors that I’ve worked with. Rarely happens. And I’m certainly not a person that feels precious about myself — it’s just common sense. But when I was younger, I was a little more nervous about stuff. With Bernardo, sometimes he would be — I felt that he was European, they make certain demands.
R.D.: I’m older now, and I’m more experienced, so I don’t get thrown by the directors that I’ve worked with. Rarely happens. And I’m certainly not a person that feels precious about myself — it’s just common sense. But when I was younger, I was a little more nervous about stuff. With Bernardo, sometimes he would be — I felt that he was European, they make certain demands.
A.S.: For example?
R.D.: In “1900,” we shot the old stuff on the first day, and I realized there that that was a mistake — it just wouldn’t work, nobody was into it. I didn’t know what I was doing sitting in another country with this director who I like very much, but it was like, “Where are we?” If I had thought about it more, I would have said, “Can we not do this scene later, not the first day?” I was sensible enough to know you don’t do things so out of order. But I went along with it, I remember that, and it just didn’t work.
R.D.: In “1900,” we shot the old stuff on the first day, and I realized there that that was a mistake — it just wouldn’t work, nobody was into it. I didn’t know what I was doing sitting in another country with this director who I like very much, but it was like, “Where are we?” If I had thought about it more, I would have said, “Can we not do this scene later, not the first day?” I was sensible enough to know you don’t do things so out of order. But I went along with it, I remember that, and it just didn’t work.
A.S.: What about with Scorsese, that’s an extraordinary run you had, starting when you were both quite young. Looking back, you can see what Rupert Pupkin has in common with Travis Bickle, but there’s also something very different in those two performances. I felt like, when I was watching those characters, that I was seeing something on-screen that hadn’t been there before — the investigation of a whole new kind of person.
R.D.: With “The King of Comedy,” I wanted to do it, Marty was reluctant, but we just did it, and that sometimes happens in things that I’ve done with him. I did it just to work together. There was a script — I don’t know if you know the history of it.
R.D.: With “The King of Comedy,” I wanted to do it, Marty was reluctant, but we just did it, and that sometimes happens in things that I’ve done with him. I did it just to work together. There was a script — I don’t know if you know the history of it.
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