De Niro: A Life (91 page)

  
1
  “We’ve miscast it”:
Simon,
The Play Goes On
, 110.

  
2
  “It didn’t work, just didn’t”:
“Playboy Interview: Robert De Niro.”

  
3
  “He’s still out there”:
Kellow,
Pauline Kael
, 236.

  
4
  “If the Travis Bickle character”:
HRC, Schrader.

  
5
  “It was like going from the darkest”:
“Playboy Interview: Robert De Niro.”

  
6
  “I spent time just walking”:
“It’s Dilemma, It’s Delimit, It’s De Niro.”

  
7
  “Bobby has never played”:
“Hollywood Takes on ‘The Last Tycoon,’ ” Stephen Farber,
New York Times
, March 21, 1976.

  
8
  “He was an actor”:
Rolling Stone
, June 16, 1977.

  
9
  “I sometimes see him”:
“De Niro: The Phantom of the Cinema.”

10
  “He’s very precise”:
“Elia Kazan,” Charles Silver and Mary Corliss,
Film Comment
, January–February 1977.

11
  “Sam pulled one”:
“Playboy Interview: Robert De Niro.”

12
  “Look at Irving”:
“F. Scott Fitzgerald Gets a Second Act After All,” Steve Chagollan,
New York Times
, August 21, 2005.

13
  “I was crazier”:
Schrader,
Taxi Driver
[script], xxii.

14
  “We had a hard time agreeing”:
Cameron,
Floor Sample
, 58.

15
  “She was insanely jealous”:
Biskind,
Easy Riders
,
Raging Bulls
, 301.

16
  “He would throw something”:
“Liza, Liza, Where You Been?,” Cliff Jahr,
Village Voice
, June 27, 1977.

17
  “That’s when everything sort of fell”:
Kelly, Martin Scorsese, 106.

18
  “We started to get cocky”:
Ibid., 106.

19
  “It was a nightmare”:
Biskind,
Easy Riders
,
Raging Bulls
, 325.

20
  “I started taking drugs”:
Ibid.

21
  “I wanted it to look like my horn”:
“De Niro: The Phantom of the Cinema.”

22
  “It’s incredible the way”:
“The Director of
Taxi Driver
Shifts Gears,” Robert Lindsey,
New York Times
, August 8, 1976.

23
  “He asked me ten million”:
“It’s Dilemma, It’s Delimit, It’s De Niro.”

24
  “I don’t mind being”:
Village Voice
, June 27, 1977.

25
  “He didn’t say it”:
Author interview.

26
  “I thought it would be funny”:
“Playboy Interview: Robert De Niro.”

27
  “a $10 million home movie”:
Cameron,
Floor Sample
, 59.

28
  “I really worked on it”:
“Dialogue on Film: Robert De Niro.”

29
  “Everybody there was somebody”:
“What’s Robert De Niro Hiding?”

30
  “We would go to parties”:
“Amo, Amas, Abbott.”

31
  “loaded”:
“Diahnne Abbott, Honeysuckle Rose.”

32
  “I was standing”:
Ibid.

  
1
  “I ran to San Francisco”:
“Same Name, Different Worlds.”

  
2
  “I don’t really like”:
“Robert De Niro the Painter.”

  
3
  “It creates a certain”:
“Same Name, Different Worlds.”

  
4
  “At first I was very excited”:
“EYEVIEW: The De Niro ‘Passione,’ ” Christopher Sharp,
Women’s Wear Daily
, June 23, 1980.

  
5
  “Do you think there’s going to be”:
Village Voice
, June 27, 1977.

  
6
  “For a time after
New York, New York
”:
Kelly,
Martin Scorsese
, 112.

  
7
  “soaking up the environment”:
The Deer Hunter
, production notes.

  
8
  “Everybody who was going”:
“Playboy Interview: Robert De Niro.”

  
9
  “It’s very hard to sustain”:
“Dialogue on Film: Robert De Niro.”

10
  “When somebody belts you”:
“Movies ‘Discover’ Christopher Walken,” Janet Maslin,
New York Times
, December 26, 1978.

11
  “The circumstances were genuine”:
Ibid.

12
  “spoke very bad English”:
“The Men Who Work as Directors’ Eyes,” Shaun Considine,
New York Times
, April 8, 1979.

13
  “Without knowing it … the pilot”:
“Playboy Interview: Robert De Niro.”

14
  “We had every right to cut”:
“Movie Angling for an Accolade,” Aljean Harmetz,
New York Times
, November 23, 1978.

15
  “I’m sure he cares”:
“In the Year the War Came Home, Beatty, De Niro, Voight, Olivier and Busey Are Gunning for Oscar,”
People
, April 2, 1979.

16
  “I hope it doesn’t win”:
Wiley and Bona,
Inside Oscar
, 560.

  
1
  “I had an idea”:
“De Niro Talks!”

  
2
  “Mr. Savage had involved”:
HRC, Schrader.

  
3
  “We could do a really great job”:
Thompson and Christie, eds.,
Scorsese on Scorsese
, 76.

  
4
  “brutally depressing”:
Bach,
Final Cut
, 163.

  
5
  “this picture as written”:
Ibid., 164.

  
6
  “more qualified to be a psychiatrist”:
“De Niro: A Star for the ’70s.”

  
7
  “I just kept reapeating”:
“Playboy Interview: Robert De Niro.”

  
8
  “I admired the fact”:
Kelly,
Martin Scorsese
, 126.

  
9
  “I tried to ask him”:
“Playboy Interview: Robert De Niro.”

10
  “You can only go so far”:
“Method and the Man,” Steve Grant,
Time Out
, May 22, 1991.

11
  “De Niro saw this movement”:
Biskind,
Easy Riders
,
Raging Bulls
, 385.

12
  “
Don’t
leap and lunge”:
HRC.

13
  “The way I talk”:
HRC.

14
  “I know I’m a fighter”:
HRC.

15
  “It was really funny”:
Kelly,
Martin Scorsese
, 133.

16
  “When we did the acting stuff”:
“Dialogue on Film: Robert De Niro.”

17
  “How they found me”:
“The Delicate Art of Creating a Brutal Film Hero,” Fred Ferretti,
New York Times
, November 23, 1980.

18
  “I would abuse the audience”:
“Frank Vincent’s Two-Limo Night,” Edward Lewine,
New York Times
, February 18, 1996.

19
  “He wanted a picture of me”:
Kelly,
Martin Scorsese
, 131.

20
  “She had a feeling”:
“De Niro in Moscow.”

21
  “some of the scenes with Bobby”:
Kelly,
Martin Scorsese
, 139.

22
  “I just can’t fake”:
“De Niro’s Method of Getting a Fat Part,” New York
Daily News
, October 28, 1980.

23
  “I needed to feel Jake’s shame”:
“Untouchable World of De Niro the Godfather,” Jean Rook,
Daily Express
(London), 1991.

24
  “At first it was fun”:
“Playboy Interview: Robert De Niro.”

25
  “I began to realize”:
“The Delicate Art of Creating a Brutal Film Hero.”

26
  “Bobby’s weight was so extreme”:
Kelly,
Martin Scorsese
, 143.

27
  “He was 30 pounds”:
“The Delicate Art of Creating a Brutal Film Hero.”

28
  “Scorsese … had been right”:
Bach,
Final Cut
, 347.

29
  “I said, ‘People are going to look’ ”:
Kelly,
Martin Scorsese
, 149.

30
  “Look … there’s no way to do it”:
“What’s Black and White and Red All Over? Martin Scorsese,” Hildy Johnson,
In Cinema
, December 1980.

31
  “That’s the idea”:
HRC.

32
  “Dear Robert”:
HRC.

  
1
  “Bobby De Niro’s a perfectionist”:
“Sutherland: No More Goofy Roles,” Jordan Young,
New York Times
, September 23, 1979.

  
2
  “De Niro once figured”:
“ ‘This Movie Is the Easiest Thing I’ve Ever Done’: Ryan O’Neal,” Robin Brantley,
New York Times
, May 21, 1978.

  
3
  “A Dr. Jekyll”:
Rolling Stone
, June 16, 1977.

  
4
  “We spent wonderful”:
“The Shadow King.”

  
5
  “I’ve heard they have hookers”:
“Playboy Interview: Robert De Niro.”

  
6
  “a cooling-off period”:
“In the Year the War Came Home.”

  
7
  “This guy is cutting me off”:
“My Ugly Life with De Niro: Ex-Lover,” Cindy Adams,
New York Post
, October 26, 1992.

  
8
  “The chief of police”:
“Playboy Interview: Robert De Niro.”

  
9
  “Where’s John?”:
Woodward,
Wired
, 405.

10
  “Don’t talk to anybody”:
Ibid., 412.

11
  “De Niro is a perfectionist”:
True Confessions
production notes.

12
  “
NOTE OF CAUTION
”:
HRC.

13
  “I talked to tons”:
“De Niro Talks!” (emphasis added).

14
  “Technique is concrete”:
“De Niro: A Star for the ’70s.”

15
  “attached itself to me”:
“Once Upon a Time in America,” Peter Hamill,
American Film
, June 1984.

16
  “He was a big guy”:
Ibid.

17
  “Sergio told me”:
“Playboy Interview: Robert De Niro.”

18
  “Bobby made it clear”:
“Once Upon a Time in America,” Hamill.

19
  “Italian directors”:
“Playboy Interview: Robert De Niro.”

20
  “I can’t do the movie”:
Doron and Gelmis,
Confidential
, 155.

21
  “For better or worse”:
“Once Upon a Time in America,” Hamill.

  
1
  “I was struck”:
Kelly,
Martin Scorsese
, 152.

  
2
  “He understood the bravery”:
Ibid., 153.

  
3
  “Bobby developed a technique”:
Wilson,
Scorsese on Scorsese
, n.p.

  
4
  “it was more Bob’s”:
Kelly,
Martin Scorsese
, 153.

  
5
  “With its combination”:
Thompson and Christie, eds.,
Scorsese on Scorsese
, 90.

  
6
  “I could see”:
Levy,
King of Comedy
, 419.

  
7
  “What we went through”:
Ibid.

  
8
  “Bobby has to know”:
“God’s Biggest Goof,” Michael Angeli,
Esquire
, February 1991.

  
9
  “It’s harder to imagine”:
HRC.

10
  “Jer—I need you to know”:
“God’s Biggest Goof.”

11
  “They don’t know celebrity”:
Levy, King of Comedy, 419.

12
  “I asked Meryl”:
“Maximum Expression.”

13
  “She looked stunned”:
“Queen for a Day: Sandra Bernhard Looks Back on
The King of Comedy
,” Dave Itzkoff,
New York Times
, April 17, 2013.

14
  “the most intimidating”:
Levy,
King of Comedy
, 423.

15
  “There was one of these”:
“De Niro,” Scott.

16
  “
I HAVE NOTHING LEFT
”:
HRC.

17
  “very determined”:
HRC.

18
  “coughing on the floor”:
Thompson and Christie, eds.,
Scorsese on Scorsese
, 87.

19
  “It was like making a film”:
Ibid.

20
  “When I saw Take 29”:
“After Open-Heart Surgery, King of Comedy Jerry Lewis Bounces Back with Bride-to-Be,” Jim Jerome,
People
, February 7, 1983.

21
  “I know I’m number two”:
Ibid., 90.

22
  “I went in with a very simple”:
“God’s Biggest Goof.”

23
  “Bobby is no fool”:
“Penthouse Interview: Jerry Lewis,” James Delson,
Penthouse
, May 1984.

24
  “extremely difficult for everyone”:
Thompson and Christie, eds.,
Scorsese on Scorsese
, 88.

25
  “turned this world”:
“After Open-Heart Surgery.”

26
  “I said, ‘You cocksucker’ ”:
“Penthouse Interview: Jerry Lewis.”

27
  “I don’t know if I said”:
“Playboy Interview: Robert De Niro.”

28
  “When you work with great people”:
“Queen for a Day.”

29
  “didn’t have anything to do”:
Levy,
King of Comedy
, 423.

30
  “Marty told me later”:
Kelly,
Martin Scorsese
, 156.

31
  “Jerry is totally surreal”:
“What’s So Funny About Jerry Lewis?,” Lynn Hirschberg,
Rolling Stone
, October 28, 1982.

32
  “In order to work with Bobby”:
“Penthouse Interview: Jerry Lewis.”

33
  “He didn’t have that helmet”:
Kelly,
Martin Scorsese
, 157.

34
  “The whole routine”:
“Maximum Expression.”

35
  “We needed to go”:
“The Shadow King.”

36
  “I had my head shaved”:
“De Niro,” Schruers.

37
  “If you really have a problem”:
Kelly,
Martin Scorsese
, 171.