Insights from an icon: Robert De Niro names the modern actors who inspire him most
His filmography may have become increasingly spotty in recent years, but every now and again, Robert De Niro pulls a performance out of the bag to remind everyone why he’ll always be known as one of the greatest actors to ever grace the silver screen.
Of course, that’s a reputation he earned decades ago thanks to a string of seminal performances in the likes of Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, The King of Comedy, and The Deer Hunte, to name just a few. Still, late-stage De Niro has developed a habit of appearing in some truly wretched things.
Whether it’s his execrable detours into comedy through Dirty Grandpa and Grudge Match, bland and forgettable fare like Last Vegas and The Comeback Trail, or even the occasional geriaction jaunt in Killing Season and Savage Salvation, top-tier performances have become few and far between for the icon.
Silver Linings Playbook, The Irishman, and Killers of the Flower Moon were a reminder that he’s still a force to be reckoned with when the material is strong enough, but no amount of bad movies is going to be able to tarnish De Niro’s legend. He’s worked with several generations of all-timers on either side of the camera, but for his money, there are several actors among the current crop who stand out.
When quizzed by The Guardian on which names who arrived after he’d already made his name inspired him the most, there was only one he hadn’t worked with before. “The actors I respect are Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis is a wonderful actor,” he said. “Jennifer Lawrence is wonderful. She’s got a great energy.”
Although De Niro and Day-Lewis have never collaborated and probably won’t unless the latter breaks his retirement vow, he’s very familiar with the other three. He directed Damon in The Good Shepherd and shared an ensemble with Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle, and Joy, while his professional association with DiCaprio stretches decades.
They were first part of the same cast in 1993’s This Boy’s Life and reunited three years later for Marvin’s Room before they teamed up for the first time under shared directorial muse Martin Scorsese in Killers of the Flower Moon. There’s an element of De Niro sticking to what he knows, then, but it can’t be argued those four are among the best in the business.
After all, every single one of them has won at least one Academy Award, while the quartet at large boasts a combined tally of six Oscars from 22 nominations and ten wins from 37 Golden Globe nods. They might be established and heavily decorated superstars, but being able to inspire a talent of De Niro’s calibre is a much rarer accolade.
