How Robert De Niro became Al Capone in ‘The Untouchables’
Hiring Robert De Niro to spend roughly ten minutes on-screen in a handful of scenes isn’t the sort of role that would require the actor to go full-blown method and spend months in preparation. However, that’s exactly what The Untouchables got.
The star’s penchant for immersion when it comes to any character meant that he was never going to phone it in, but even by De Niro’s standards, he fully committed to his performance as Al Capone. It was a tremendous show of faith from somebody who almost wasn’t part of the cast at all and even landed the person he replaced a healthy payday out of courtesy.
Director Brian De Palma always wanted to reunite with De Niro for a third time after Greetings and Hi, Mom!, but he was unsure if his number one choice would be able to clear his schedule. Organising a meeting with Bob Hoskins in case of an emergency, the filmmaker ended up handing over a tidy sum out of nothing but gratitude.
Hoskins revealed to Conan O’Brien of his encounter with De Palma, “I went to meet him at his hotel, and he said ‘really I want Robert De Niro to play him”, leaving the actor to ask, “Well, great, what am I doing here?”. As it transpired, if The Untouchables couldn’t get its perfect Capone, a backup plan was required, with Hoskins happy to oblige. Months later, a cheque for £20,000 appeared through the letterbox, complete with a note that read, “Thanks for your time, Bob, love Brian.”
With De Niro now signed on, he embarked on his meticulous odyssey to do justice to the feared Chicagoan. Telling Entertainment Weekly that he “tried to gain as much weight as I could”, the Academy Award winner would ultimately gain 30 pounds. Not content with just bulking up, he also shaved his head to look more like his counterpart because, in his own words, “I wanted to look as round as I could.”
De Niro drew much of his inspiration from a book – widely believed to be My Years with Capone by Jack Woodford – which offered an insight into the stature and aura the mob boss projected to those in his societal and criminal circles. The man who brought the gangster to life on-screen described the author as “maybe a chronicler of his exploits”.
That still wasn’t enough, though, with Martin Scorsese’s muse contacting the tailors who made Capone’s outfits and instructing them to do the same for him, right down to the silk underwear he was known to prefer. It’s hardly the most substantial role in The Untouchables, but based on how far De Niro went to get into the right mindset, it sounds as if it easily required the most amount of work.
