August 17, 1943 ~ Robert De Niro is born (American actor, Taxi Driver) Live Music Head: “I recently read Clarence Clemons’ book where he tells the story of meeting Robert De Niro in a Miami bar not long after Taxi Driver came out. De Niro tells Clemons a secret that he first makes Clarence promise not to tell for at least twenty-five years. De Niro then goes on to tell Clemons that he stole the whole ‘Are you talking to me?’ bit from Bruce Springsteen after seeing The Boss say the same thing over and over from the stage to his audience at a concert he attended. Could this be true?” Paul Schrader: “I heard that story. It could be true. But I also heard Bob say he stole it from a waiter who said it over and over to some customers in a deli (laughs).” Live Music Head: “Clarence’s book is full of just as many tall tales as truths, but wasn’t the ‘Are you talking to me?’ dialogue written in the script?” Paul Schrader: “No, it wasn’t in the script. De Niro improvised. Either story could be true (laughs).” Schrader also talked in depth about how the character of Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) was based on himself; that he was once a starving, anxious, heavy drinking writer who mixed Maalox with his booze... and had just as many dark thoughts. But rather than act upon them, Schrader wrote it all down and had Bickle act them out for him.
Posted on: Sat, 17 Aug 2013 16:04:03 +0000
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