THE MAN
OF A THOUSAND ROLES

CONSOLIDATION AS AN ACTOR

Robert de Niro’s film career begins in 1963, when he is 20 years old. His first appearance in the cinema is with the director, Brian de Palma, who gives him a role in the film The Wedding Party. It marks the beginning of a friendship that leads him to meet different film directors, including Martin Scorsese, with whom he instantly hits it off.

Some of the best-known films in Robert de Niro’s career would be with Scorsese. Taxi Driver (1976), set in New York in the 70s, acquires cult status with its mythical quote “You talkin’ to me?”, and is considered one of the best in the history of cinema. A year later, de Niro stars in Scorsese’s New York, New York, and later in Raging Bull, Cape Fear and Casino. One of Robert de Niro’s specialities is playing tough, problematic, emotionally unstable characters, sometimes actual sociopaths, although the actor has participated in films of all kinds of genres, including comedies. In order to always ensure an outstanding performance, De Niro spares no efforts or resources, carrying out rigorous studies of the physical and psychological traits of each role to later be able to get into character.

Some of his best-known
films would be with Scorsese.

In 1974, de Niro spends four months in Sicily learning to speak a Sicilian dialect, so as to give a credible performance as Don Vito Corleone, in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather II, thus landing one of the best-known roles of his career, which earns him an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Three years later, he learns to play the saxophone for New York, New York. And in Raging Bull (1980), the actor gains 27 kilos and learns to box in order to become Jake LaMotta.

His extraordinary characterisation and portrayal of the character, considered one of the greatest of all time, earns him an Oscar for Best Actor. In the 90s, at the peak of his his film career, de Niro continues starring in successful films, such as Heat (1995), with Al Pacino. In 2004, he reaches another professional milestone, by voicing the character of “Don Lino”, the villain of the animated film Shark Tale. And in his role as a producer, the staging of the musical We Will Rock You, a collection of Queen’s greatest hits, is notable. In recent years, de Niro has starred in other films, such as Freelancers, The Big Wedding or The Bag Man. His latest film is The Irishman, by Martin Scorsese, in which they work together again twenty years after their previous collaboration.

In The Irishman, Scorsese tells the life story of a legendary hitman of the American mafia. Produced by Netflix, the film cost 150 million euros, it is the longest film-making process of Scorsese’s career, and with its 209 minutes, the longest film he has directed. After its world premiere in New York in late September, the film has arrived in Europe with its screening at the London Film Festival. Critics have unanimously highlighted the performance of Robert de Niro and the subject matter of the film, which has already been described as a “masterpiece” by such renowned critics as Slash Film’s Chris Evangelista.