One of the most accomplished actors to have come out of Hollywood, Robert De Niro represents a generation of actors who could go to any length to essay their roles. Though widely known for his dramatic excursions, the actor could also essay comic roles with equal finesse, a sign of commitment to his ever-flourishing art. In Nancy Meyers’ new quirky comedy, The Intern, De Niro plays Ben Whittaker, a retired professional at the twilight of his life, beginning again at a start-up company, as an intern.
The iconic actor shares his experiences exclusively with The Quint,
in this interview-
Q: Did any issues in the film resonate with you when you signed on?
Robert De Niro: Well, I was honoured and flattered that Nancy asked me to be in the movie. She gave me the script, I read it, I liked it a lot and I think everybody’s already said it. Nancy deals with what’s going on today and the whole flip side of me being the intern is what makes it more interesting and fun. Right? She dealt with the issues at hand.
Q: Do you see this as a love letter to your generation and how relevant your kind of wisdom and discipline can be to today’s generation?
Robert De Niro: That’s a good way to say it, but I think it’s her love letter to us guys too. And it’s fun. I hope the movie is seen by a lot of people because it’s this kind of movie. We do tend to feel that when you’re at a certain age, you get older and you’re less relevant in some ways. And that’s just not the case. It’s just that some people are aware and sensitive to that when they’re younger. When you get there, you certainly know it, and sometimes you don’t know it until you get there. There are a lot of people who are there already. So hopefully they’ll see the movie.
Q: Your character Ben is such a great mentor for Jules in this film. Was there a mentor in your own life who made an impact? And are you as technically challenged with computers as Ben is?
Robert De Niro: I’m a little less technically challenged, but I’m not far behind. No, I never had a mentor like that. I don’t envy it, but I do think that’s a great thing if you are lucky enough, especially if you’re in a certain untenable situation and you have a mentor who will change your life. And they can do that. I mentored myself in a lot of ways. But I think it’s a great thing, and I like to give advice to younger people if they ask for it. I have, at times, asked questions of people who were further on in their careers, like [director] Elia [Kazan] or certain actors who are a generation ahead of me – like what to look out for in all your experience – because I wanted to take a shortcut in some things. I don’t want to have to do something if it’s going to be a negative experience; well, just get some words of advice. So I do that for people if they ask me. I don’t volunteer it, but I’m certainly there if somebody needs it. I have some young friends who sometimes ask me for my opinion on what the situation is, and I give it to them.
Q: On the flip side, you’ve had interns, I would imagine, at your production company, Tribeca. Did making this film give you any extra insight into the intern experience?
Robert De Niro: Well, I’ve had some mentors who I now work for.
Q: So they now get to boss you around?
Robert De Niro: No, they’re just very respectful. But they never forgot where they were working before, so it’s nice. I’m very proud of them. It’s a great thing with Tribeca, after all these years.
Q: Can you speak about how it was to collaborate with Nancy Meyers?
Robert De Niro: Well, I’m used to doing movies that took as much time as our movie did. I’m from, I guess, that generation. It just stopped at a certain point, except for certain types of big science fiction movies. These days, movies don’t have the luxury of extremely long schedules, unless you just find yourself there because you’re in it and you have to finish it, and it’s going to take longer than everybody hoped it would. But Nancy was very specific about what she wanted, which was great, and I totally get that and understand it. We’d do a lot of takes at times, but for good reasons. Bottom line, she was terrific.
Q: How long was the schedule?
Robert De Niro: We shot for fifteen weeks.
Q: Can you talk about how your character enhances or changes the lives of others in the film? Also would you say this film speaks perhaps differently to different generations of moviegoers?
Robert De Niro:Well, it is what it is. I mean, Jules learns from him, even though he’s older and all that. And as people get older, they’re kind of sidelined in a way, but the point is that Ben ends up being someone very important, if you stop and look and listen. He has advice that only somebody who has been on the planet a lot longer, can give. So, Jules gets that from Ben my character, and I get certain things from her. It’s really that simple.
Q: If you had a chance to sit down with the characters you’re playing, what would you like to know about them, and what advice would you give them?Robert De Niro: Well, I’d get more specific. This is hypothetical. If she were basing Ben on a real person, I would just ask him a lot of questions about his everyday habits, what he thinks about things. And just on and on. That’s what I would do.
Q: In some ways, this movie is a rear view mirror. For you, was there a particular time of your early life, that gave you angst back then, that now you look back on and wonder why you were so worried about it?
Robert De Niro: Well, anxiety is always there, I think. As long as you’re alive you’re going to have anxiety about something. The things that were important 15 or 20 years ago are less important today because I know that I can get the same results on certain things. I don’t know if I learned anything about myself that I didn’t know already. But I had a very good time doing the film. It was just a really terrific experience, that’s all.
(The writer is a journalist and a screenwriter who believes in the insanity of words, in print or otherwise. Follow him on Twitter: @RanjibMazumder)
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