Why Robert De Niro Jumped Into Comedies 25 Years Ago

In the early 2000s, movie fans were both perplexed and delighted that one of the greatest hard-nosed dramatic actors in the history of cinema had begun doing comedies. Robert De Niro’s comedic work received the spotlight with 1999’s Analyze This and quickly hit its stride with 2000’s Meet The Parents.

According to Box Office Mojo, Analyze This earned $176,885,658 globally and Meet The Parents went on to gross $330,444,045 worldwide.

De Niro has managed to keep a healthy balance of comedy and drama on his docket since. In his latest comedy, About My Father, De Niro plays comedian Sebastian Maniscalco’s father “Salvo”. The movie, based loosely on Maniscalco’s life, opens in theaters Friday.

ADVERTISEMENT

After leaping into uncharted waters nearly 25 years ago, the 79-year-old actor looked back at how his jump in comedy started in our conversation.

“With Analyze This, I thought it would be interesting and fun to do,” the two-time Oscar winner told me during our sit-down interview at The Peninsula Chicago hotel earlier this month. “Billy Crystal, it was his idea, the way I understand it. … I had a table read of it with him, other actors —which I like to do when I’m seriously considering something, I have a table read because you can kind of lift it off the page a little bit and get a slightly better sense of what it could be— and committed to it.

“Then I started getting offers like for Meet The Parents, Jay Roach (director, producer), I don’t know how that evolved, but Jay Roach and I had a meeting, Jane Rosenthal (producer), I guess Tribeca (Tribeca Films, a film and television production company founded by De Niro and Rosenthal) was working on it, she was working on it. I don’t know how, but I wound up committing to that and then that whole thing started.”

ADVERTISEMENT

The same iconic stone-cold demeanor the New York native channeled as a gangster in films like Goodfellas is also what made him the perfect straight man to actors who had more experience as comedic performers like Ben Stiller and Billy Crystal.

In About My Father, De Niro ushers in laughs with a softer, and ultimately warmer, character than we’ve seen in his other comedic work. Not only does the legendary actor provide levity as Maniscalco’s Italian immigrant father, opposite Sebastian’s girlfriend’s wealthy and high-class family, but he helps provide a lot of the visual and sometimes physical comedy that works well for the movie as a hairdresser, Salvo’s trade.

ADVERTISEMENT

De Niro was able to return to his dramatic roots several times in the new film, most notably at the end. I asked the Casino actor if he thought drama in comedies has a big impact on audiences, as it may catch them off guard at times.

“I don’t know. I think those types of scenes are great. I think the Italians do it so well,” De Niro told me. “A moment is funny, the next moment it’s emotional, back and forth, Italian movies. That’s okay, as long as it’s real, it’s believable because that’s life, that’s how people are.”

The Italian connection wasn’t the only reason Robert and Sebastian were able to establish noticeable chemistry, but it was valuable to the film.

“Sebastian was great. It’s also based on his relationship with his own father, so a lot of built-in things already and so it was good,” De Niro stated. “Laura Terruso (director) is an Italian American, she’s from New York, she knows that world, Sebastian obviously and Salvo (also the name of Sebastian’s father in real life), so I was in good company on both sides, had a strong foundation. If we went here or there, it was all supported nicely.”

ADVERTISEMENT

I got a good look at De Niro’s sense of humor when I asked him if he and Maniscalco first hit it off working together in 2019’s Martin Scorsese flick: The Irishman.

“Well, no pun intended, ‘hit it off’, I had to kill him and he was upset by that, so we had a couple hours of a therapy session before he could do this movie,” the unrivaled actor said with a laugh. “No, we didn’t really talk much [before this film].

“I saw him, I think once or twice, before we did The Irishman and then he said I saw him after, I thought it was before but whatever, I’ve seen him do standup in any case. Seeing the script, I liked it and liked the idea of playing his father and all that, so that was it.”

ADVERTISEMENT

For another Scorsese film, Goodfellas, it was De Niro’s recommendation that the storied director take a look at the late Ray Liotta. Scorsese did and a perfect movie made Liotta’s career.

“He was terrific in it, Ray. Marty used him in it. I remember, I told him once, I said, ‘There’s this guy Ray Liotta, [in] Something Wild, a Jonathan Demme movie,’ De Niro recalled. “So Marty did end up using him, I don’t know who else he was considering. He contributed a lot, he was terrific in the film.”

Before we parted, I asked the star which role during the course of his career he committed to the most in terms of preparation. He settled on a fan favorite.

“I guess Raging Bull, that was a big commitment, just gaining the weight, that’s a lot,” he said. “It’s a lot harder than you think.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Audiences can see De Niro collaborate with Scorsese again in Killers of the Flower Moon, set to release in October. The film also stars Leonardo DiCaprio.