Explore Quotes by Robert De Niro

When you make a drama, you spend all day beating a guy to death with a hammer, or what have you. Or, you have to take a bite out of somebody's face. On the other hand, with a comedy, you yell at Billy Crystal for an hour, and you go home.

I don’t get into these long-winded heavy discussions about character - do we do this or that or what. At the end of the day, what you gotta do is just go out there and do it.

I didn't have a problem with rejection, because when you go into an audition, you're rejected already. There are hundreds of other actors. You're behind the eight ball when you go in there.

In acting, I always try to go back to what would actually be the real situation, the real human behavior in life.

Good directors can bring certain things out of you, with their intensity or gentleness or sensitivity or understanding. They can make an actor feel he can do no wrong.

The director respects what they've hired you for and chosen you for: to do the part and respect what you're doing.

I mean, the actors that I admired were Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, an actress named Barbara Harris. And Greta Garbo. They were great actors.

I love to find new people. It's not for the sake of their being new; it's because if you find someone who perfectly fits a part, that's such a great thing.

If it's the right chair, it doesn't take too long to get comfortable in it.

I spent lunchtime in a grave during the filming of 'Bloody Mama.' When you're younger, you feel that's what you need to do to help you stay in character. When you get older, you become more confident and less intense about it - and you can achieve the same effect.

I always go back to how people behave. If you watch how people actually behave in a situation, it's very simple and honest and contained. You don't need to use as much expression, as much feeling. Some characters will boil over, and that's another thing, but a lot of times I think you can just do very, very little.

Italy has changed. But Rome is Rome.

I go to Paris, I go to London, I go to Rome, and I always say, 'There's no place like New York. It's the most exciting city in the world now. That's the way it is. That's it.'

There is a certain combination of anarchy and discipline in the way I work.

You learned the two greatest thing in life, never rat on your friends, and always keep your mouth shut.

There's nothing more ironic or contradictory than life itself.

It's important not to indicate. People don't try to show their feelings, they try to hide them.

I always tell actors when they go in for an audition: Don't be afraid to do what your instincts tell you. You may not get the part, but people will take notice.

My definition of a good hotel is a place I'd stay at.

I think Hollywood has a class system. The actors are like the inmates, but the truth is they're running the asylum.

There is only one way to gain access to the truth and that is to not expect anything.