Robert De Niro Quotes & Sayings

You always learn something about movies. Directing or acting, there's always something new. It's the technological thing; there's always something to learn. — Robert De Niro

I always say people can call me anything they want as long as they don't call me late for supper. — Robert De Niro

You talking to me? You talking to me? Then who the hell else are you talking to - you talking to me? Well, I'm the only one here. — Robert De Niro

If De Niro wants to spend the twilight of his career as the McDonald's of master thespians, we can't stop him. — Robert De Niro

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.' — Robert De Niro

You don't need words to express feelings. — Robert De Niro

I can get around pretty easily. People don't expect to see me walking around. — Robert De Niro

I will not hesitate. Not for a second. — Robert De Niro

As an actor who's starting out, you can't say, "Hey, I'm too good for this." You gotta do it, because people see you, your name gets around, and it has a cumulative effect. — Robert De Niro

New York is more exciting, I guess, than even Paris or London. New York's the center of something; I don't know what, really - the center of a lot of things. With all its problems and chaos and craziness, it's still a great place to live. I can't see myself living anywhere else. — Robert De Niro

Whenever there is any doubt, there is no doubt. — Robert De Niro

I don't like to watch my own movies - I fall asleep in my own movies. — Robert De Niro

Everybody's in New York and, hopefully, my younger kids will go to college in New York and find something they want to do so they'll stay in the city — Robert De Niro

Movies are hard work. The public doesn't see that. The critics don't see it. But they're a lot of work. A lot of work. — Robert De Niro

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

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. — Robert De Niro

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. — Robert De Niro

Auditions are like a gamble. Most likely you won't get the part, but if you don't go, you'll never know if you could've got it. — Robert De Niro

You'll have time to rest when you're dead. — Robert De Niro

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. — Robert De Niro

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

As I get older, I think that things have been pre-determined for me, whether I liked it or wanted it, wished for it, whatever, way before in some way. And with others, you do have a choice that you can change. And that choice that you make is still part of this grand scheme. — Robert De Niro

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. — Robert De Niro

The one thing I always talk about in terms of restaurants is consistency. I think that's what we love about the vodka, is that it's consistent. It's consistent in its pureness and that's how I tie it to restaurants. When I think of a good restaurant, it's where the food has been consistent; there's always a consistency. — Robert De Niro

One regret I have: I didn't get as much of the family history as I could have for the kids. — Robert De Niro

I've never been one of those actors who has touted myself as a fascinating human being. I had to decide early on whether I was to be an actor or a personality. — Robert De Niro

Running a casino is like robbing a bank with no cops around. For guys like me, Las Vegas washes away your sins. It's like a morality car wash. — Robert De Niro

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

As a kid I didn't root for the bad guys. — Robert De Niro

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

In the casino, the cardinal rule is to keep them playing and to keep them coming back. The longer they play, the more they lose, and in the end, we get it all ... — Robert De Niro

You do what you do best, try to stop guys like me — Robert De Niro

Thank God for the rain to wash the trash off the sidewalk. — Robert De Niro

Loneliness has been following me my whole life. — Robert De Niro

Movies are hard to make, and you have to work toward a common ethic and do your best. You don't want to work with people who don't care or who are acting out some neurotic, crazy thesis on the set. — Robert De Niro

I always wanted to direct. Directing is a lot more of a commitment though, a lot more time. I like directors who do very few takes, they know what they want. — Robert De Niro

Some day a real rain will come and wash all the scum off the streets. — Robert De Niro

A guy told me one time, Don't let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner — Robert De Niro

I think it's important to have had at least a few years of obscurity, where people treat you like everybody else. — Robert De Niro

You have to think about one shot. One shot is what it's all about. A deer's gotta be taken with one shot. — Robert De Niro

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. — Robert De Niro

Every set up that you do, everything is precisely modulated and raised and lowered." — Robert De Niro

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

Somebody steals from me, I'm gonna say you stole. Not talk to him for spitting on the sidewalk. Understand? — Robert De Niro

When you make a movie, everyone should leave their own personal problems at home. When they start bringing those to set, filming can be very difficult ... You don't need any extra drama. Put the drama into the story, in the characters. — Robert De Niro

I have to be able to trust you with my life. Do you understand? — Robert De Niro

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

I guess the only thing to do now is meet his parents. I'm sure they're decent people. I mean they gotta be if they named their son Gaylord Focker. — Robert De Niro

Sometimes if you have financial restraints, it's a benefit. It forces you to come up with a more creative way. — Robert De Niro

If you don't go, you'll never know. — Robert De Niro

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

I'm lucky that I have whatever I had that makes me have a successful career, if you will. — Robert De Niro

If it's a very emotional scene, you're kind of relieved when you've done it, kind of spent. And there are times when you can be rattled, certain characters if they're hyper, that can carry over, the residue of that. But I try to leave it on the set. — Robert De Niro

Everyone's always interested in a dark theme, especially when there's humor connected to it. It seems like that helps, if that's an integral and organic part of the whole story. — Robert De Niro

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. — Robert De Niro

When I was 15, 16, I studied with Stella Adler at the Conservatory of Acting, then I stopped again and went to the Actors Studio when I was 18. — Robert De Niro

I'm not a big football person at all. — Robert De Niro

If you're an actor, always be true to your character. If you are not an actor, have character and always be true to yourself. — Robert De Niro

You never know what you do that could be totally out of left field, which actually might work and give something fresh to the whole scene, to the character, whatever. If you have that with a director who then knows how to shape it, either in the direction, in the moment, or in the editing, then that's good. — Robert De Niro

I have so much respect for directors. It's a tremendous amount of pressure; you have to keep steadfast and keep what you know is right. — Robert De Niro

Write down everything you want to do with your life and then spend the next 25 years doing them. — Robert De Niro

My definition of a good hotel is a place I'd stay at. — Robert De Niro

According to a new survey, women say they feel more comfortable undressing in front of men than they do undressing in front of other women. They say that women are too judgmental, where, of course, men are just grateful. — Robert De Niro

Things rarely turn out the way we want them to. — Robert De Niro

If you don't co-operate you're gonna suffer from fistophobia. — Robert De Niro

I'll work with a director if I think I'm going to get into a comfortable situation, and if it's someone I respect and who respects me, even if they're not so well known. Movies are hard to make, and you have to work toward a common ethic and do your best. — Robert De Niro

Leonardo DiCaprio is a very serious young actor. — Robert De Niro

With 'Silver Linings,' I didn't feel - I was thinking of certain things, but I just said, 'Let me go with it.' You have to know what you're doing, where you're going with the scenes, and I put a lot of work into that. But when you're out there, at the same time you gotta be ready for anything. — Robert De Niro

I got some bad ideas in my head. — Robert De Niro

Feeling a little bit alive is a lot better than just waiting to die. — Robert De Niro

There is a certain combination of anarchy and discipline in the way I work. — Robert De Niro

You draw on whatever's relevant to the part you're playing; it makes it more personal. — Robert De Niro

The talent is in the choices. — Robert De Niro

The mind of a writer can be a truly terrifying thing. Isolated, neurotic, caffeine-addled, crippled by procrastination, consumed by feelings of panic, self-loathing, and soul-crushing inadequacy. And that's on a good day. — Robert De Niro

I never walk into a place I don't know how to walk out of. — Robert De Niro

You don't always have to have the answer to everything. — Robert De Niro

When you love someone you gotta trust them, there's no other way. You gotta give them the key to everything that's yours. Otherwise, what's the point? — Robert De Niro

There's nothing more ironic or contradictory than life itself. — Robert De Niro

Ok let me explain, if you were bitten by a mad infected dog, who will you blame? the dog or its owner? Definitely the owner, so, all the blame is on the USA Government's shoulders for adopting and supporting a state like Israel — Robert De Niro

My mother worked for a woman, Maria Ley-Piscator, who with her husband founded the Dramatic Workshop, which was connected to the New School. My mother did proofreading and typing and stuff or her, and as part of her payment, I was able to take acting classes there on Saturdays when I was 10. — 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. — Robert De Niro

In civilized societies, we spend our lifetimes trying to become what is socially acceptable. We're dark and we're light. We all have both sides to us. — Robert De Niro

I don't remember what made me want to be an actor. In fact, I'm always curious. — Robert De Niro

Time goes on. So whatever you're going to do, do it. Do it now. Don't wait. — Robert De Niro

I always enjoy coming to Israel. Israelis are warm, they're energetic people. Forthright. Very smart. I always like smart people. They're nice people, you know. Aggressive, and I respect that aggressiveness because you need it in their situation. — Robert De Niro

Passion should always trump common sense. — Robert De Niro

I like to visit L.A., but I wouldn't want to live there. — Robert De Niro

You don't just play a part. You've got to earn the right to play it. — Robert De Niro

Italy has changed. But Rome is Rome. — Robert De Niro

Callista Gingrich. Karen Santorum. Ann Romney. Now do you really think our country is ready for a white first lady? — Robert De Niro

A lot of young actors have the idea that, "I've got to do this right. There's a right way to do this." But there's no right or wrong. There's only good and bad. And "bad" usually happens when you're trying too hard to do it right. There's a very broad spectrum of things that can inhibit you. The most important thing for actors - and not just actors, but everybody - is to feel loose enough to create what you want to create, and be free to try anything. To have choices. — Robert De Niro

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

One of the things about acting is it allows you to live other people's lives without having to pay the price. — Robert De Niro

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. — Robert De Niro