Before Christian Bale and Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro Showed True Acting Skills by Putting on a Whopping 60 lbs for a Life-changing Role

SUMMARY

• Robert De Niro found worldwide fame with a plethora ofm ovies back in 70s Hollywood.
• The actor revealed that for the role of Jake LaMotta, he put on 60 lbs for the 1980 film Raging Bull.
• Robert De Niro also talked about pointless interview questions and how they were irrelevant!

Hollywood has always been filled with actors going the extra mile just for the sake of their roles and nothing more. Actors like Christian Bale and Joaquin Phoenix have been highly revered for taking this to the extremes.

Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro in The Score | Mandalay Pictures

However, before these two actors, Robert De Niro was the only one. Putting on weights, changing styles, and trying out different walks, De Niro would do this on a regular basis for every movie that he was cast in!

Robert De Niro Would Change With Every Movie

Not in a shape-shifter way but the actor would actually put on or lose a few pounds depending on the role. De Niro was known to change his persona for every different role that he was offered.

Robert De Niro in Raging Bull | Credits: Chartoff-Winkler Productions, Inc.

In the earlier days, the Taxi Driver actor wasn’t giving many interviews, and hence, no one knew the real De Niro. Interviewer Paul Gardner tried several attempts at cracking the actor but it was to no avail.

In a report by The Guardian, a collection of Gardner and Robert De Niro’s brief conversations was collected. One such conversation pointed out how De Niro had gained 20 pounds and was thinking of putting on 40 more for a role in the 1980 film Raging Bull!

I gained about 20lb for Jake [LaMotta] and I’m still puttin’ it on. I see so many fight movies where the actors are out of shape, I don’t believe them.

He further continued,

So I come to the gym here – they rigged up a special one – and work out every day. I’ve got Sylvester Stallone’s trainer.

The actor eventually put on a total of 60 lbs for a scene involving an older Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull. As the years went by, De Niro found himself with worldwide fame and 2 Oscars in his hands.

As mentioned earlier, the Goodfellas actor didn’t like when people interviewed him. Although getting De Niro to answer questions was very tough, it was also an interesting aspect of the actor.

Why Robert De Niro Refused Interviews

It is a pretty straightforward thing if you think about it. Interviews often contain personal questions about the actor and their life. However, De Niro feels that these questions had no relevance to his acting or the movies he did.

Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver | Credits: Bill/Phillips Productions

In another one of Paul Gardner’s interviews, De Niro was heard talking about giving interviews after his first movie. After a while, the actor realized that the questions didn’t amount to mean anything really.

After my first movies, I gave interviews. Then I thought, what’s so important about where I went to school, and hobbies… what does any of that have to do with acting, with my own head? Nothing.

Well, his athleticism and his dedication to a role certainly paid off in the end as De Niro became the recipient of 2 Oscars. His 1980 film Raging Bull was also a raging success.

With Martin Scorsese as the director and Robert De Niro in the lead, Raging Bull received a rating of 8.1/10 on IMDB and 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. The 1980 film is available to stream on Max in the U.S.

Written by Visarg Acharya

Articles Published: 2403

Visarg Acharya, Associate Content Writer, has been heavily involved in movies, series, and history. Having an experience of 2 years in the field of content writing, Visarg is a seasoned writer. Having a degree in Physics, Visarg Acharya has published a dissertation alongside a plethora of poems and short stories along the way.