Legendary actor Robert De Niro recently appeared on The Tonight Show and host Jimmy Fallon used the opportunity to ask him some intriguing “true or false” questions about his storied career.
One of the questions revolved around the iconic “Are you talkin’ to me?” line spoken by De Niro’s character Travis Bickle’s in the cult classic Taxi Driver. It was long-rumored that the line wasn’t even in the script and that De Niro ad-libbed it on the spot.
When asked whether the rumor about his improvisation was “true or false,” De Niro answered that it is “more or less true” while adding that the fans regularly approach him with this line.
De Niro also answered questions about his involvement in the Godfather film franchise and 1988’s comedy Big. He said it’s true he auditioned for the role of Sonny Corleone in the first Godfather movie before the part went to James Caan. De Niro later starred in Godfather Part II as a young Vito Corleone and ended up winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance.
Regarding the movie Big, De Niro admitted that he was briefly cast in it as a lead. He ended up leaving the project due to “an issue with the negotiations.” Tom Hanks ended up taking over.
You can check out Robert De Niro’s interview on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon in full below.
