Shy, skinny, modest. 6 stories about a young Robert De Niro

Shy, skinny, modest. 6 Stories About Young Robert De Niro

1

His father left the family because he was gay

Robert De Niro Sr. and Virginia Admiral met at the Massachusetts Summer School of Artists. They got married and a son was born. Anaïs Nin and Henry Miller, the playwright Tennessee Williams, visited the house, the family lived in prosperity, a son was born - but three years later the marriage broke up because Robert refused the idea of hiding his homosexuality. The divorce was by mutual consent. Robert maintained a relationship with his son, although all his life he felt guilty for leaving his child. He greatly disapproved of meeting boys from Little Italy, the children of the poor and criminals. But he approved of his son’s art pursuits.

De Niro, Sr. and Jr.

Robert first appeared on stage at the age of 10. At 16, he dropped out of school to pursue acting. When Robert De Niro Sr., a famous and respected abstract painter whose work was exhibited at the Guggenheim Gallery, died in 1993, De Niro Jr. made the film A Bronx Tale, about a boy's relationship with two parents, one of whom was a truck driver. , and the second a bandit. He dedicated this painting to the memory of his father. Another De Niro film about his father is the documentary “Remembering the Artist,” in which he reads the diaries of Robert Sr. and comprehends their relationship.

Works by De Niro Sr.

“I had his character, his eccentricity, his passion. And I also liked the smell of paint, cigarettes and old worn sweaters... As a child, I had little interest in painting, just as my son is now not interested in acting. My parents separated and I lived in the Village with my mother and didn't see my father every day. And he huddled in an attic in Soho at a time when no one wanted to live there... He was proud of me. But I think it was hard for him at times.”

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2

He was quiet, shy, stubborn and loved dressing up

Those who remember Robert in his youth describe him as a gentle, timid and terribly skinny guy. The entire apartment in which De Niro lived with his mother was filled with second-hand suits for all occasions - the young actor was a supporter of the Stanislavsky system and believed that one had to thoroughly get used to the role. He went to auditions with no less than twenty photographs in different images, and his main philosophy was continuous work: if you persistently hit one point, then sooner or later something will work out and success will come. At the same time, he consistently avoided television, not wanting to become another cowboy in another second-rate series.

“Someone is definitely shooting at someone there, or, in extreme cases, someone is chasing someone. And no one shoots or races well enough to make you put your household chores aside and watch it carefully.”

Young Robert with his mother

In the end, De Niro got the role in the film of a young man like himself. His name was Brian De Palma, and he needed cheap actors for his graduation picture. Robert passed the audition well, and then offered to show something else. He left the room and returned only 20 minutes later - completely changed and ready to play a piece from the play by Clifford Odets. In fact, a little more, and De Palma was ready to go home - Robert was very lucky that he did not. But Robert himself was completely sure that he had failed the audition, and if he didn’t impress his future employer with something right now, he wouldn’t get the role. In fact, he made a huge impression on De Palma. He took it, not even quite imagining that De Niro would play for him.

Robert received $50 for his role in The Wedding Party. This was his first money earned in cinema.

3

His first successful film was “92 minutes of sadomasochism”

To be precise, the critics' assessment of the film "Bloody Mama" looks like this: "92 minutes of sadomasochism, incest, satirism and voyeurism, woven into a shameful script." The director of this excellent gangster action film, where all the heroes were complete degenerates, was Roger Corman, who had amazing financial sense and knew that if everyone had recently been delighted with Bonnie and Clyde, they would want something just like it. once. True, Bonnie and Clyde were a romantic couple, and Mother Barker and her sons were simply monsters. De Niro's hero, in particular, injected heroin, and when he was not there, he sniffed glue, after which he took pleasure in killing people. They filmed it all for four whole weeks, the film became the highest-grossing film of 1969 and subsequently gained cult status. And what’s interesting is that this cheap film pulp-fiction was shot strictly according to Stanislavsky’s method.

Corman did not insist on this - it happened this way, since all the actors who gathered on the set studied acting in this very vein. De Niro, for the sake of the role of his mentally and physically unhealthy hero, began to starve, drank only water and eventually acquired a sallow complexion. Most people on set didn't even know his name - they thought of Robert as Lloyd. And the best story, perhaps, can be considered the filming of the chase scene, where Lloyd was supposed to sit behind the wheel and Mother Barker was supposed to shoot at the police. The car rushes along the road at terrible speed, the cameraman and director are dangling, tied to the rods, on both sides of the body, the scene is filmed - and then Corman decides, despite all the discomfort of his situation, to film a second take.

It seemed to him that Robert looked a little unsure while driving a couple of times. And then it turns out that De Niro doesn’t even know how to drive a car, he doesn’t have a license, but if necessary, then, of course, he agrees to reshoots. “I figured it out and said: “You know what, Bobby... Let's send this piece straight to development. We won’t do a double…” said Corman.

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4

He turned down a role in The Godfather

It seems that all of Hollywood was auditioning for roles in the film adaptation of Mario Puzo's novel. The Paramount studio was going to make an absolute hit from a book about the Italian mafia in New York, they had about two dozen director candidates. Nobody simply counted the actors. De Niro, who by that time had no “star” work behind him, only good reviews from critics, liked Coppola, but he was not sure that this was what he needed for Michael, and offered De Niro the role of Sonny. But the producers insisted that James Caan would play Don Corleone's eldest son. Then Coppola offered Robert Polly Gatto.

De Niro as young Vito Corleone

The role was minor, but in such a project it’s better than nothing! Nevertheless, a few days later, the main role appeared on the horizon - in the film “The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot,” and Robert went there to again become the best actor in a bad film. Subsequently, he reproached himself for this - but exactly until he got into the second part of “The Godfather” in the role of young Vito Corleone. In addition, the very fact that Robert auditioned and received at least some role from Coppola greatly increased his prestige among potential employers. Subsequently, for the sake of his role in “The Godfather II,” he will go to Sicily to soak up the atmosphere and perfect his Italian, which was not his native language. As the film’s consultant Romano Pianti later recalled, “If you had asked me whether an actor could master a new language in such a short time, I would have told you: no. Never. This is impossible. But this De Niro did the impossible!”

5

He went to the same discos with Scorsese when he was a boy

This became clear when they met the already established actor and director, who still had not sufficiently conquered the world. The acquaintance took place at a party hosted by film critic Jay Cox: De Niro was invited, and Scorsese was brought there by his friend Brian De Palma. “I recognized him immediately,” Scorsese later recalled. “But I haven’t seen him for fourteen years.” He was hanging out with another bunch of teenagers on Broome Street, and we were hanging out on Prince Street. We met him at dances, “hello and goodbye.” Now it turns out that he liked my film “Who’s Knocking on My Door.” And, like many, he believed that this film accurately captured the atmosphere that existed on the Lower East Side in those years."

By that time, Scorsese had already hatched the idea of “Mean Streets,” which was supposed to confront “The Godfather”: the director considered this film to be completely false, because he knew the reality of gangster New York much better.

De Niro and Scorsese

With grief in half, Scorsese found 300 thousand dollars for “Mean Streets” and offered De Niro four roles to choose from. He agreed to Johnny Boy, whom he later played in the best traditions of the System: on the scene of the conflict between the heroes of De Niro and Richard Romanus, the film crew was seriously afraid that Robert would simply shoot his opponent. But the result was one of the greatest films in the history of cinema, and Scorsese found his ideal actor for many years to come. About the role of Johnny Boy, critics wrote that Robert De Niro’s performance should somehow be sealed in a time capsule and left to future generations as an example of ideal acting.

5

He celebrated his first Oscar while sitting at home

Robert was confident that a nomination for best supporting actor was all he would receive from the academics for his role in The Godfather Part II. That's why he didn't even go to Hollywood. He stayed at home in New York, giving the opportunity to someone else to quietly receive the prize - for example, his teacher Lee Strasberg or the legendary Fred Astaire, who was swept by the Oscar so many times that now they simply had to award it for his role in “The Towering Inferno.” "at least for the sake of decency.

As a result, Francis Ford Coppola came out to receive the award and said that he considers De Niro the most gifted actor of the generation, who himself does not understand how good he is. Lee Strasberg nobly remarked in an interview with the press that if he was going to lose to someone, then let it be his student, who fully deserved this award. De Niro himself had a special opinion on this matter.

When the reporters finally got to him, he said that the Oscars are something that simply changes your life, but there are actually many other events in it that have the same effect. Besides, Oscars are often won by people who don't deserve them... but winning such a prize is not bad at all.

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