Robert De Niro is widely considered one of the greatest actors of his generation. With a career spanning over five decades, De Niro has appeared in over 100 films, and his work has been widely recognized and acclaimed by audiences and critics alike. However, despite his versatility as an actor, De Niro has often been typecast in certain roles, particularly as a mobster.
The early years
De Niro's early career was marked by a string of small, supporting roles in films like "Bang the Drum Slowly" (1973) and "Mean Streets" (1973). It wasn't until his breakthrough performance in Martin Scorsese's "Taxi Driver" (1976) that De Niro's career truly took off. Over the next few years, De Niro continued to work with Scorsese, appearing in films like "Raging Bull" (1980) and "The King of Comedy" (1983).
The rise of the mobster roles
It was in the early 1980s that De Niro first started to be associated with the gangster genre. In 1980, he appeared in "The Last Tycoon," playing a gangster named Monroe Stahr. This was followed by his performance in Scorsese's "The King of Comedy," in which he played Rupert Pupkin, a failed comedian who stalks a talk show host.
However, it was De Niro's portrayal of Vito Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather: Part II" (1974) that really established him as a leading man in the gangster genre. Over the next several years, De Niro appeared in several other films that reinforced this association, including "Goodfellas" (1990) and "Casino" (1995).
The evolution of De Niro's roles
While De Niro continued to be associated with the gangster genre throughout the 1990s and 2000s, he also took on a wider range of roles during this time.Was Robert De Niro ever typecast as a mobster? He appeared in a number of romantic comedies, such as "Marvin's Room" (1996) and "Meet the Parents" (2000), as well as dramatic roles in films like "A Bronx Tale" (1993) and "Sleepers" (1996).
In recent years, De Niro has continued to branch out even further, appearing in a number of action and comedy films, such as "The Irishman" (2019) and "Dirty Grandpa" (2016). Despite his versatility as an actor, however, De Niro will likely always be remembered as one of the greatest mobsters in movie history.
Robert De Niro is one of the greatest actors of his generation, and has been widely recognized and acclaimed for his work over the years. Despite this, he has often been typecast as a mobster, a role that he has played to great effect in many of his films. Nevertheless, De Niro has continued to evolve and grow as an actor, taking on a wider range of roles and challenging himself in new and innovative ways.
