Throughout an acting career spanning six decades, Robert De Niro, 83, has become a household name. He first appeared on screen when he was cast in the movie The Wedding Party in 1963, although this wasn’t released until 1969. This came after years of participating in school stage productions as a child, which led him to leave school at 16 to pursue a career in acting.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential actors of his generation, De Niro has earned two Academy Awards and a Golden Globe, as well as nominations for eight BAFTA Awards and four Emmy Awards. His first Oscar was for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Vito Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1974 crime epic The Godfather Part II, while he won his second for Best Actor portraying Jake LaMotta in Scorsese’s 1980 boxing drama Raging Bull.
Younger generations may be more likely to recognise him from 2019 film Joker, and the Meet the Parents movies. However, despite having enjoyed a long and successful career in Hollywood, it hasn’t all been fun and games for the veteran actor. De Niro has also opened up about what he claims is the ‘worst experience’ of his career.
In a social media video about the topic, it was revealed that after De Niro starred in his breakout role in 1976 film Taxi Driver, he signed on to star in Neil Sidin’s comedy Bogart Slept Here, directed by Mike Nichols. The film’s storyline follows a young actor adjusting to his sudden rise to fame after winning an Academy Award, and was written as a satire on Hollywood’s obsession with stardom.
“On paper, it was a dream match. With Siden’s witty dialogue with De Niro’s rising star power,” the video said. “But just a few days into filming, cracks show. De Niro’s intense, method-driven style, perfect for tortured loners, clashed with Siden’s breezy comedic tone.”
Nichols and Sidin soon realised the role required charm rather than the brooding intensity that De Niro was bringing, which led to them scrapping the project. However, after De Niro left, Richard Dreyfuss stepped into the project, which inspired Siden to reshape the script into what became The Goodbye Girl.
Reflecting years later during a conversation with Quentin Tarantino at the Tribeca Film Festival, De Niro said he took some of the blame, but also described a toxic environment on the set. “I didn’t know certain types of things, it was a certain type of comedy – Neil Simon – the timing had to be a certain way, I didn’t feel enthused by it,” De Niro shared.
“I shot for about two weeks. It was the worst,” he said. “You can’t make them happy, and they’re not happy, and you’re kind of feeling that. So this was one of them.”
As for how he was told he was dropped from the project, he shared: “I was sitting in my camper, you feel this dread. I was going to offer my salary to keep us going for another week of rehearsals. [Nichols] said ‘I think we’re going to have to end it.’ He felt terrible. He was really upset.”
The Goodbye Girl, released in 1977, quickly became a runaway hit, winning Dreyfuss an Oscar for best actor, making him the youngest winner at the time. While De Niro ended up losing out on this role, his acting career still led to cinematic greatness that continues to this day.
