Robert De Niro has portrayed everyone from a young Vito Corleone to a raging Jake LaMotta, but despite earning an Oscar nomination for his most iconic role, the 82-year-old actor admits he never saw the future coming for 1976’s ‘Taxi Driver.’
In a candid interview ahead of the upcoming Tribeca Festival, De Niro confessed that he was genuinely surprised the gritty, controversial neon-noir drama became a cinematic classic.
De Niro Admits He Never Saw ‘Taxi Driver’ Success Coming
Speaking with Page Six while promoting this year’s festival, De Niro reflected on the legacy of Travis Bickle, the lost Vietnam veteran whose violent breakdown helped define 1970s movies. Even with a Palme d’Or from Cannes and all those years of hindsight, the actor says he felt no sense of destiny while filming Martin Scorsese’s dark take on a crumbling New York.
“You never can think that you’re doing something that’s going to have an impact,” De Niro said. “I just never look at it that way.” That’s striking for a guy known for his method work, like driving real cabs for twelve-hour shifts to learn the city’s beat. But De Niro says guessing whether a movie will last is a waste of time. He said a project’s success is mostly “out of your control.”
‘Taxi Driver’ Controversy and Cultural Legacy Explained
When it came out 50 years ago, ‘Taxi Driver‘ shocked people. It wasn’t the respected masterpiece we see today. The movie caused an uproar over its realistic violence and for casting 12 year old Jodie Foster as a child sex worker.
In case you missed it: Antony Starr Perfectly Explains Homelander With One ‘Taxi Driver’ Comparison
Later, it got tied to a real life horror when John Hinckley Jr., who was obsessed with Foster, tried to kill President Ronald Reagan. That made things even more complicated. Still, despite that dark side, the film endured. In 1994, the Library of Congress called it “culturally, historically or aesthetically” important enough to save in the National Film Registry.
De Niro’s confession is the centerpiece of a big 50th anniversary party. The 2026 Tribeca Festival, which he helped start to bring back lower Manhattan after 9/11, will host a major reunion for the film. De Niro and Scorsese will sit down for a special talk after a screening. It’s one of the biggest events of this year’s festival, which runs from June 3 to June 14.
The Improvised Line That Became Iconic
Even if De Niro doubted the movie would last, the public never did. At a 40th anniversary reunion in 2016, De Niro joked about how he can’t escape what he created. “Every day for 40 years, at least one of you has to come up to me and said, ‘You talkin’ to me?’” he told the crowd at the Beacon Theatre. That line, which he mostly made up on the spot, became shorthand for movie cool.
De Niro has said before that the famous mirror scene, where Travis practices with his gun and argues with his own reflection, was partly improvised. “That’s the fun of working, especially with someone like Marty Scorsese,” De Niro said. He added that the beauty of their partnership is how spontaneous filmmaking can be.
As Taxi Driver turns 50, it stands as a pillar of American cinema. But for De Niro, it’s still a lesson in staying humble. “One can only do their job as best as they can,” he once said. “Nothing more.”
You might also want to read: Al Pacino And Robert De Niro Pay Emotional Tribute to ‘The Godfather’ Legend After His Death
