I don't separate Robert DeNiro's comedy from the serious stuff. The one thing I realize working with him in all of his work, is that he doesn't do anything unless something happens to him in scenes - unless something happens to make him react. He never came in with a set idea of how he was going to do it, he never came in with guns blazing. He would just show up and wait to see what happened.
Alessandro NivolaThe research period of a film is the most exciting part of the process, and filming is sometimes a letdown because when you're dealing with biopic material, the real thing is always much more intricate than the story told in the film.
Alessandro NivolaThere's something different about an indie film than a TV show that has a huge infrastructure that's in place already for you - at least financially and in terms of distribution. Whereas an indie film is just a total dare.
Alessandro NivolaYou're making these movies for pennies, there's absolutely nothing to offer anybody, and they will still fight you! "There's no more back-end for him? Well he'll have your back-end! He'll take your first born child!" Producing is totally exhausting.
Alessandro NivolaFor a long time a lot of people thought I'm British, because I'd done so many roles with English accents. People probably still think it. Or they don't think anything.
Alessandro NivolaBarry Levinson is such a deceptive director, because he seems really lackadaisical. I'd never worked with him before, and I almost got the impression that he didn't really care that much because he was so laid-back. Sometimes we'd finish filming hours before the day was over, which is just unthinkable in any other film experience I've had. I couldn't believe that Barry had the passion for it.
Alessandro Nivola