Robert De Niro plays two rival crime bosses in his latest film, describing it as a technical challenge.
The veteran actor explained that the dual role depicting both Frank and Vito in “The Alto Knights” requires precise positioning and careful adjustments with Dolly’s cameras moving around the set.
“It’s technical stuff you have to be in a certain place,” De Niro said.
To make the rapid fire dialogue between his characters work, he recruited another actor to read the other side of him during filming.
“When I do Frank, he’ll do Vito. When I do Voice, he’ll do Frank,” explained De Niro. “I just couldn’t do that and I couldn’t do it. I had to have another actor, someone who understood the world.”
The film reportedly went through several casting iterations. De Niro confirmed that at one point it was a “talk” that he combined with Al Pacino.
“I didn’t want it to be just a gimmick,” De Niro said of the final decision he would play both roles. “But I thought there was something interesting about it.”
When discussing the approach to character preparation, De Niro noted that requirements differ depending on role. Due to his recent political series, “Zero Day,” he relied heavily on existing footage from politicians.
“There’s a lot of stuff I see every day about politicians, presidents, senators, people in Congress,” he said. “Look at all kinds of unpleasant situations, this and how it reacts.”
While his father was Italian and Irish, De Niro, whose mother had Dutch, French and German heritage, also admitted to “distinguishing more from Italians” when playing the mob character.
The film includes memorable scenes featuring a dog in a mink coat. De Niro revealed that it was his idea.
“Frank walks through the park with his dog. Why doesn’t the dog have some kind of mink coat? He said.
“The Alto Knights,” which will be appearing next Friday, will be taking part in extensive cinematography for De Niro’s crime dramas, including “The Irishman,” “The Godfather Part II,” and “Goodfellas.”
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