Why Deniro is my hero

Dude I completely disagree with that statement. I worked on a movie & even refused to perform the dialogue as written.


Its not something I would have done going into the movie, but this writer/ director showed himself to be completely incompetent throughout the shoot. He went so far as to try to get the actors to eat four day old food, the food had not been refrigerated for half of the time. As a director, the idea of renegade actors might frighten you.... but you have to earn your respect.
 
I don't understand why everyone is giving the director a hard time. It seems to me that DeNiro was the one who was being a dick. The director was just making a suggestion and Bob turned into a giant ass. He went from zero to sixty, unless we're missing something. I don't care how big you think you are. Be a professional and humor the dude. He's trying to earn a buck, too.
 
Exactly.

Knox, I agree with you, when the director is getting out of line, and not respecting the actor, then yes, it can be appropriate to make a stand. However, when you have a director who seems to be doing his best, and being as polite as possible, like Horse said, you dont just blow him off and be a dick, no matter how big you are.
 
For me it's hard to pass judgement (not that it means anything) unless I see at least the 20 minutes before and the 20 minutes after the little tidbit of time that's on tape.



DDP
 
Well I had two directors & I only ignored one of them. So take that as you will.


We're not even certain if that voice IS the director.
 
Context is important. But from what we've seen, DeNiro is not being cool here. I guess at a certain point you've earned the right to tell people to F off, and DeNiro has definitely earned that right. But it seems that even if this guy had given DeNiro the best direction in the history of direction, DeNiro still would've said "F You". He had it in his mind that he was only doing it once. That's that.
 
I'm a little torn with this one. I do think its hard to judge Deniro or the director from this clip...however, its hard to imagine that if the director had been a complete ass 30minutes, 20 minutes or even 1 minute before this take, Deniro would still be sitting there. So, for him to tell the director that "you don't know what you are talking about" seems pretty out of line. Once he said that, how does the director NOT lose a ton of respect from everyone else on the set? Its insulting and absolutely unnecessary. Deniro says "you don't know what you are talking about" and I'll guarantee you the director took it and finished his job. Had he replied, "well, oh yeah, I don't think you know what you are talking about" Deniro probably would have walked out on the spot.

On the other hand, I been acting since I was in my late teens (I'm 36), doing theater and have done quite a few plays...and I have experienced an INCREDIBLE amount of incompetence from many directors. I used to be of the mind that you wear a tu-tu if the director thinks its best for the role...but I've since re-thought this...you cannot stand by and allow someones lack of judgment and/or talent take you down.

Even though you might be chosen by a director he or she could really make you look like a big fat asshat if you are not careful. Believe me. They cast you for what you brought the the role. They are responsible for the entire production and the flow of the show but they are NOT responsible for your interpretation. He or she can lend some thoughts suggestions but its up to that actor to come prepared and there should be some presumption on the part of the director that the actor or actress knows a LOT about his or her character. I remember when I did a show the director and I were discussing the play and he disagreed with one of my interpretations...It was a discussion, not an argument. Typical and necessary dialogue between a Director and his cast. He politely smiled and condescendingly said "I'm sorry but you're wrong". Wrong? How can an interpretation be wrong? With that one unprofessional and incompetent remark my faith in him crumbled and the rehearsals became increasingly more taxing on all of us. He turned into a control freak and didn't know what he was doing or how to direct his actors, how to communicate what he wanted "can you be more yellow-y" What the F does that mean?
 
The voice off-camera (director?) asked him to have more energy when he says, "Tuesday on Fox". If you noticed, De Niro seems to say that line with a hint of disdain (if not disdain, then extremely subdued to say the least). Maybe the 'director' could have given better direction, but I don't think he was wrong to ask for another take.
 
rlm7189 said:
On the other hand, I been acting since I was in my late teens (I'm 36), doing theater and have done quite a few plays...and I have experienced an INCREDIBLE amount of incompetence from many directors. I used to be of the mind that you wear a tu-tu if the director thinks its best for the role...but I've since re-thought this...you cannot stand by and allow someones lack of judgment and/or talent take you down.
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That's exactly what I was referring to in my earlier post. If they're clueless about what they're doing, then you just have to (silently) do your own thing and shake your head when they ask you to do something.

Even though you might be chosen by a director he or she could really make you look like a big fat asshat if you are not careful. Believe me. They cast you for what you brought the the role. They are responsible for the entire production and the flow of the show but they are NOT responsible for your interpretation. He or she can lend some thoughts suggestions but its up to that actor to come prepared and there should be some presumption on the part of the director that the actor or actress knows a LOT about his or her character. I remember when I did a show the director and I were discussing the play and he disagreed with one of my interpretations...It was a discussion, not an argument. Typical and necessary dialogue between a Director and his cast. He politely smiled and condescendingly said "I'm sorry but you're wrong". Wrong? How can an interpretation be wrong? With that one unprofessional and incompetent remark my faith in him crumbled and the rehearsals became increasingly more taxing on all of us. He turned into a control freak and didn't know what he was doing or how to direct his actors, how to communicate what he wanted "can you be more yellow-y" What the F does that mean?
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That's pretty poor judgment on the director's part, that's for sure. I probably would have told him to F off right then and there.

Terry_Lasater said:
The voice off-camera (director?) asked him to have more energy when he says, "Tuesday on Fox". If you noticed, De Niro seems to say that line with a hint of disdain (if not disdain, then extremely subdued to say the least). Maybe the 'director' could have given better direction, but I don't think he was wrong to ask for another take.
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Putting things in context by the way he asked if that was ok or if they needed another take, it seems fairly obvious that this was a sequence of events that led to DeNiro's comment. Then we hear the director talking about how "Fox" needed to be emphasized. It sounds to me like the director tried to get him to do that way for a couple different takes by this point.
 
Terry_Lasater said:
The voice off-camera (director?) asked him to have more energy when he says, "Tuesday on Fox". If you noticed, De Niro seems to say that line with a hint of disdain (if not disdain, then extremely subdued to say the least). Maybe the 'director' could have given better direction, but I don't think he was wrong to ask for another take.
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I tend to agree. I don't think it is out of line to ask for another take. Not that there are many ways to DO that line but its not like it was going to take up all of your day.

Having said that, the director kind of seemed like he was more used to directing those quick 10 second spots of News Anchors who tell you whats about to come up on the news aka:

"death murder and maiming all coming up tonight on news 5 on FOX!" they always tend to hit that station id.
 
tommyinla said:
That's pretty poor judgment on the director's part, that's for sure. I probably would have told him to F off right then and there.
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I've never had that balls to do that. I guess when I am doing a play I feel very lucky to be part of it. So, I tend to try to play nice to keep as much harmony going until the show goes up. But man, in hindsight, I wish I told a few directors and sometimes the costume designers to take an F'in hike with their low rent ideas.
 
Maybe DeNiro prefers not to be a shill for Fox. It's his image cultivated over 30+ years that's at stake, not anyone else's.
 
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