Interviews
CrankyCritic: You're known as actor who intensely prepares for a role. What did you do to prepare to play this character?
Robert De Niro: We had a technical guy on the set called Steve Davis, who was very helpful with everything and was there all the time, so he was the main person to help me.
CrankyCritic: Does doing a movie like this alter your perceptions of the media? Does it make you feel differently at all about the way the media operates?
Robert De Niro: No, I have my own perceptions of the media.
CrankyCritic: Can you elaborate?
Robert De Niro: It is what it is. The media's like a big dinosaur with a tail that swings back and forth and it indiscriminately knocks things over, both good and bad, and that's the freedom of the press, so what are you going to do?
CrankyCritic: What attracted you to this script?
Robert De Niro: John [Hertzfield, director] and I spoke about it. There were things that I wasn't sure about, this and that, but I felt that whatever it was going to be, it would be interesting and I'm in. He's also very agreeable and amenable to doing things that we discussed and a lot of directors won't do that. They get stuck with something and he'd be willing to try anything.
CrankyCritic: When you've been a victim of tabloid journalism yourself, what has been your reaction? Gone crazy?
Robert De Niro: No, I sued once in France where they wrote stuff, which you've heard before, but it was all nonsense, because they have some privacy law, which doesn't mean anything. They pay the fine and they still sell the photos, or whatever.
CrankyCritic: Did you get the money out or them or an apology?
Robert De Niro: I forget.
CrankyCritic: But you haven't been back to France since, right?
Robert De Niro: No, I go back. It wasn't France. It was the judge; he was an idiot.
CrankyCritic: There are some graphic violent sequences in 15 Minutes, such as where one of the characters sticks his hand into the chest of another. Do you think scenes like that serve a purpose in advancing the plot of the movie?
de niro and ed burnsRobert De Niro: That's not for me to answer. The director ---
CrankyCritic: But do you think, having seen the movie, that it serves a purpose?
Robert De Niro: I don't remember seeing that part. I swear, I don't remember.
CrankyCritic: What about the other graphic moments, the killings and such ---
Robert De Niro: Let's see. It's pretty graphic.
CrankyCritic: Too graphic?
Robert De Niro: I don't know if it's too graphic. It's trying to achieve a purpose, so I guess it has to be graphic for that reason. But you should ask the director.
CrankyCritic: Do you watch television a lot?
Robert De Niro: Not too much.
CrankyCritic: You seem to be able to switch back these days between serious drama and comedy like Meet the Parents. Why is that do you think?
Robert De Niro: I'm lucky that Parents was such a huge success.
CrankyCritic: So what are your criteria for choosing roles?
Robert De Niro: Just if they interest me, It could be the director, the script, could be anything, even a scene I think is great.
CrankyCritic: Are you planning to direct a movie again?
Robert De Niro: Yes. [Much laughter]
CrankyCritic: Why do you work so much? Are you a workaholic?
Robert De Niro: I just like to work.
CrankyCritic: So you don't feel you're a workaholic?
Robert De Niro: I don't know what means, workaholic. I won't always be doing this, but for I am.
CrankyCritic: Do you have time to lead a life?
Robert De Niro: Yeah.
CrankyCritic: Have you ever been a victim of crime?
Robert De Niro: Once a place I was living it was robbed if that's what you mean.
CrankyCritic: People are lining up, including your director and co-workers to sing your praises. We read how actors (say) they would give their right arm to work with you. How does that make you feel?
Robert De Niro: Well I'm honored and flattered.
CrankyCritic: Does it baffle you?
Robert De Niro: It's not something I think about
CrankyCritic: At one point in 15 Minutes, your character says: "When you have nothing to say, you just shut up and let the others do the talking." Is it possible to do that a lot in real life when you have to promote movies?
Robert De Niro: I try to do it as much as I can.
