Robert De Niro’s role in Raging Bull is an iconic one, with the now legendary actor playing real life boxer Jake LaMotta.
The Martin Scorsese directed movie is widely considered one of his all-time best, earning De Niro Best Actor at the 1981 Oscars, alongside a nomination for Best Picture.
With the BBC airing the film tonight, and set to add it to BBC iPlayer, many will not realise the great lengths De Niro went to in order to play the part.
The New York born actor was not the natural size of LaMotta and had to massively pile on pounds in order to play the part.
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In the end, De Niro packed on 60 pounds (27 kilograms) in order to play the part of the boxer.
The topic of his weight gain was not one universally agreed upon on set, with one of the film’s producer actually giving De Niro a stern warning, suggesting it was incredibly dangerous.
Irwin Winkler, now 94, is a longtime Scorsese and De Niro collaborator, working with the pair on The Irishman, Goodfellas, New York, New York, and of course, Raging Bull.
The producer stated that the ‘only argument’ he ever had with the actor, who he referred to as Bob, was about his weight gain for the boxing film.
He stated that when De Niro called for production to be shut down to allow him to gain the weight, he felt it was ‘unnecessary’ and not good for the actor’s health.
Despite his warning, the star went through with it, with co-star Joe Pesci stating he felt it was so that he could feel what LaMotta felt. This is due to the fact that the real-life boxer had at various points struggled to make weight for fights.
Speaking on the Off Menu Podcast with James Acaster and Ed Gamble, De Niro revealed what he did in order to pack on the pounds for the role.
He said: “When I was getting the weight, I had to eat in the morning three full meals, which was hard to do, and then digest the food, to eat lunch and then dinner.
“It's kind of fun for the first 10, 12, 15, pounds, and [then] it's drudgery.”
The role is one that De Niro has been open about saying was one of the hardest he ever had due to the weight gain.
Many film fans should be thankful he did take the role however, as Martin Scorsese has spoken about how it saved his career.
Prior to the now legendary director choosing to make the story about LaMotta’s life, he was hospitalised due to his cocaine addiction.
This led De Niro to go to the hospital, telling Scorsese: “Do you want to die, is that it? Don’t you want to live to see your daughter grow up and get married?"
He then supposedly inspired the director to make a film about Jake LaMotta, with Scorsese convinced it would be the last film of his career in America.
The rest, as they say, is history, with the film considered among the pantheon of all-time greats.
Raging Bull is airing on BBC Two at 10.30pm tonight, May 5, and will be added to BBC iPlayer shortly after.
Topics: Robert De Niro, Film, TV and Film, Celebrity
Michael Slavin