Robert De Niro names his favourite role of all time
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(Credit: Alamy)
The reason why Robert De Niro made a switch to comedy
Taxi driver. Gangster. Convict. Boxer. Disapproving father-in-law. Robert De Niro’s character performance history is one of variety and quality. The veteran actor is most known for his work in crime films, notably under the direction of acclaimed director Martin Scorsese, playing dark, intimidating, yet charismatic characters.
As a result of the mastery of his craft, there isn’t anything De Niro cannot do on the big screen. He knows how to blend into any character, story or genre. One role can differ entirely from its predecessor and successor in tone and personality.
After winning the Academy Award for Best Actor in the 1980 movie Raging Bull, De Niro branched more into a comedic-oriented style. Two years later, he played a stand-up comic in The King of Comedy, a dark comedy exploring mass obsession with idolised celebrities. He eventually returned to his more psychological and crime-based stories, such as Goodfellas and Cape Fear, for most of the 1990s.
In 1997, De Niro took up another black comedy performance as Conrad Bean in Barry Levinson’s Wag the Dog. Three years later, he starred alongside Ben Stiller in Meet the Parents as the overprotective and former CIA agent father of Stiller’s girlfriend. This role echoed the intimidation and hard exterior De Niro’s previous and infamous roles exemplify. However, this characterisation was contrasted against the comedic and light-hearted tone of the film’s comedy genre.
So why did De Niro decide to take a dip into comedy?
During a sit-down with Cigar Aficionado, De Niro spoke with editor Marvin R. Shanken about his career and the different directions he has taken with it. Shanken asks, “What caused you to go 180 degrees from serious, tough movies to family entertainment?” after mentioning Meet the Parents and another comedy film, Analyze This, which was released in 1999.
De Niro answers by referencing the latter film directly, stating: “Billy Crystal asked me…and I just said ‘let’s have a reading’”. He informs Shanken that he “never thought about” this switch from “the dark side” roles he previously played.
“Pacino got me on that,” he said when it came to reading for Analyze That. “He was influential in that. So you have a table reading to just kind of lift it off the page a little bit,” he continued while summarising the switch as starting a little experiment during the early process of casting for the film. “You just read it,” De Niro added. “Sometimes you see you have to work with it more, or you say let’s get it ready”.
Shanken then asks for a reflection on this decision in De Niro’s career, wondering if the actor cites this influence from other actors as “a good or bad move for your career?”. De Niro displays confidence and assurance in his reflective answer: “No, I didn’t worry about that too much,” he swiftly replies and then gives details of how he came to star alongside Stiller as an unimpressed father. “After Analyze This, Jay Roach (the director of Meet the Parents) asked me if I wanted to do Meet the Parents. I liked Jay a lot, so that’s how it started”.
De Niro’s answers display direction and advice from fellow friends in the industry as one of the causes of his change to comedy. He came to this decision after dipping his toes in the water, with just a simple reading to get a feel of the film’s story and characters. Numerous target audiences can see De Niro’s skills as an actor, whether fans of his darker work of psychology study characters or comedy enthusiasts.
De Niro seems pleased with his various routes and switches between genres and directors. After starring in his first film, Bang the Drum Slowly, at age 30 and having recently celebrated his 79th birthday, the actor is coming to the Golden anniversary of this iconic and diverse film career.