Robert De Niro Got Emotional During a Scene in Silver Linings Playbook While Delivering an Unscripted Line About Fatherly Love
Robert De Niro is one of the most influential and talented actors of his generation. He has starred in numerous blockbuster movies over the years; a lot of which have resulted from his collaboration with director Martin Scorsese. Scorsese and De Niro have made nearly a dozen movies together.
Robert De Niro started his acting career by appearing in stage plays. It was not until 1968 that he landed a major role in Brian De Palma’s satirical film Greetings, which was about men dodging the Vietnam War draft. This led to a series of collaborations between De Palma and De Niro. The Mean Streets star became rather emotional during a scene in the Silver Linings Playbook.
Robert De Niro Got Emotional During a Scene in Silver Linings Playbook
The 2012 movie Silver Linings Playbook, directed by David O. Russell, is based on Matthew Quick’s 2008 novel of the same name. It features an ensemble cast with Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver, Chris Tucker, and Julia Stiles.
Silver Linings Playbook is an action comedy that follows a man with bipolar disorder who has just got out of a psychiatric hospital and is trying to win over his estranged wife. Tiffany Maxwell, a young widow, offers to help Patrizio Solitano Jr., but she asks him to help her win a dance competition. Tiffany and Patrizio Jr. go closer while training for the dance competition.
Robert De Niro was no novice in show business when he starred in Silver Linings Playbook. Even so, he grew emotional during a particular scene in the movie. It was the one in which he was telling his son Patrizio Solitano Jr. (portrayed by Bradley Cooper) that he wished he was closer to him. The fascinating part about this scene was that it was unscripted.
The movie was released to great critical acclaim and was nominated for eight Academy Awards including Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Adapted Screenplay. For her performance in the movie, Jennifer Lawrence won the Academy Award for Best Actress, becoming the second youngest actress to do so.
Robert De Niro Appreciated His Relationship with Bradley Cooper
Silver Linings Playbook was regarded as Robert De Niro’s comeback movie by many. This was partly because he had not played a soulful role like the one in this movie for years. Whether he had played a role like this in many years or not, he is a very talented actor and that cannot be denied which is proved by his performance in this movie.
Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro worked together in Limitless before they appeared in Silver Linings Notebook. This made it easier for them to establish their father/son relationship in the movie. Addressing this in an interview with Deadline, the Raging Bull actor said:
“It was great. Whatever built-in relationship you had before, there is obviously no down side to that. And that was a plus for us, not so much a shorthand but just liking each other. I could feel him as being my son. It’s not a difficult one to have a connection. It certainly doesn’t hurt.”
The on-screen father-son duo definitely worked as critics found the dynamic impressive. Not to mention that both of the actors were nominated for Academy Awards for their roles in the movie.
