Robert De Niro, 81, is unrecognisable as he takes two lead roles in new gangster movie
'Are you talkin' to me?' Yes, De Niro is talking to himself this time.
Robert De Niro has taken on the challenge of acting opposite himself as the two unrelated lead characters in his new mob movie – and looks virtually unrecognisable.
The Alto Knights has the 81-year-old screen legend starring as both Frank Costello and Vito Genovese, real-life mob bosses whose childhood friendship decays into a deadly rivalry.
Opening just as Genovese has ordered a hit on Costello, it follows the gangster as he recovers and works out how to manoeuvre his family and himself into a safe retirement from the Mafia.
The film, which has been in the works since the early 1970s, is the perfect vehicle for a performer of De Niro’s calibre, supported by Debra Messing, Cosmo Jarvis, Kathrine Narducci and The Sopranos star Michael Rispoli.
Consistently in demand star De Niro looks – and sounds – most like himself as Costello in the film but has been given a dramatic transformation to star as Genovese as well.
It’s not just the magic of movie make-up either, although the Raging Bull actor looks totally different with prosthetics on the lower half of his face.
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Previous Page Next PageThey transform his chin, jawline and the tip of his nose, alongside a darker hairstyle that’s often hidden under Genovese’s hats.
Comment nowHave your say in the comments belowComment NowHe also displays totally different body language and an altered voice with a much higher pitch and a rapid-fire delivery, to the extent that unless you already know it’s De Niro x De Niro in this film, you could be forgiven for looking up the actor afterwards – or wondering if it’s Joe Pesci under the make-up.
The 81-year-old appears opposite himself as two non-related characters, real-life mob bosses Vito Genovese (L) and Frank Costello (R) (Picture: Warner Bros. Pictures via AP) For Genovese, De Niro’s face is transformed by make-up and prosthetics, as well as his performance being very different (Picture: Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)Directed by Rain Man filmmaker Barry Levinson and produced by industry icon Irwin Winkler, 93, The Alto Knights makes sense as a De Niro film in its bones, being reminiscent of movies he’s starred in before – such as The Irishman, Goodfellas, The Untouchables, The Godfather Part II, Mean Streets and Once Upon A Time in America.
It’s also written by Goodfellas and Casino scribe Nicholas Pileggi.
But we’ve moved beyond the hype around De Niro appearing in films and scenes opposite friend and fellow Hollywood heavyweight Al Pacino, to him starring opposite himself (insert the ‘You talkin’ to me?’ mirror reference from Taxi Driver that no journalist has been able to resist mentioning).
De Niro has revealed the secret to him acting his best during the scenes where both of his characters appear (Picture: Getty)An hour into The Alto Knights and fans are treated to the first scene with De Niro as both Costello and Genovese together, sitting at a table in a restaurant – in what appears to be a little nod and wink to De Niro and Pacino’s much anticipated first-ever scene together from 1995’s Heat.
It was producer Winkler who had the idea that De Niro should play the parts of both Costello and Genovese, which De Niro agreed to as it ‘would have been more justification for my doing another gangster movie’.
The star revealed that he was still concerned about making sure he could differentiate well enough between both characters though, particularly in the scenes that he shared with himself.
‘I needed another actor opposite me, I couldn’t just do it someone reading off a page, so this guy Joe Bacino, I decided on him doing it, and he learned both parts,’ the actor revealed on The View. ‘So I worked with him and it was a tremendous help.’
As Frank Costello, De Niro is more recognisable as himself (pictured with co-star Debra Messing) (Picture: Jennifer Rose Clasen/Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)The Alto Knights also boasts Heat’s cinematographer, Dante Spinotti, with Levinson also having directed mob movies with 1982’s Diner and 1991’s Bugsy.
The film is named after a real-life Manhattan social club which Genovese took over in the 1950s.
The Alto Knights is is cinemas from today.
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