How Al Pacino pushed Robert De Niro towards comedy: “He was influential in that”
You would be hard-pressed to find a cinephile that doesn’t place Robert De Niro among the best actors to have graced the silver screen. From his Academy Award-winning performance in The Godfather II to Martin Scorsese’s 2023 Killers of the Flower Moon, he’s continually proved his ability and versatility on screen and is still doing so in his 80s. So, while no one is questioning De Niro’s acting chops, it’s safe to say there was a change in his career in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
From proving his greatness as Louis Gara in Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown to exploring his comedic side in Meet the Parents, De Niro’s career transitioned almost overnight. Regardless of your thoughts on this transition, there’s one question we can all agree on: what happened? According to De Niro, it was his old friend Al Pacino we have to thank for his move towards more comedic, family-friendly roles.
Asked by Cigar Aficionado about his 180-degree shift from dark, serious roles to family entertainment, De Niro said it didn’t bother him, and he “never really thought about it”. According to the actor, comedian and future co-star Billy Crystal asked him to star in the mob comedy film Analyze This, and he said, “Let’s just have a reading of this.” But if it wasn’t for his pal Al, he wouldn’t have even thought about doing a reading. “Actually, Pacino got me on that because he liked to have readings too. He was influential in that.”
So, instead of just turning down a role he thought wouldn’t suit him, take a comedy for example, De Niro decided to start taking readings seriously. He explained, “You have a table reading to just kind of lift it off the page a little bit. You have a bunch of actors who are not necessarily going to be in it, you have a reading, you have a director, or sometimes no director, you sit…”
Continuing, he added: “You have somebody in charge of where it’s going to go financially. And you just read it. Sometimes you see you have to work on it more, or you say, let’s get it ready and do it.” And the reading went well for Analyze This. Then again, if any comedy was going to work for De Niro, of course, it would be one about a mob boss with anxiety issues.
Then along came Meet The Parents, which solidified De Niro as a comedy actor, for better or worse. However, while it might seem like a strange transition to some, the reality is that De Niro had been attempting to take on more comedic roles since the 1980s when he brought the script of The King of Comedy to Martin Scorsese’s attention. He sought to prove his versatility and avoid being typecast with this turn. This was followed by a romantic comedy, Falling in Love, in which De Niro appeared opposite Meryl Streep. But this short change-up didn’t last long when both films bombed at the box office (although The King of Comedy is undoubtedly a cult classic).
Maybe it was just a matter of time before this transition came full circle and finally got off the ground. Given a bit of time and surely a desire to slow down, De Niro has become a regular on the comedy rounds, but hopefully, he still has it in him to give us a few last serious performances before throwing in the towel.
