Robert De Niro Named His Five Favourite Actors

Robert De Niro, widely considered one of the greatest actors of the 20th century, has spent nearly six decades shaping American cinema with his intense, disciplined, and introspective acting style.

Though his career has spanned a wide array of unforgettable roles, De Niro has always been candid in acknowledging the profound influence that a few remarkable actors have had on his artistic development.

In a rare interview, he named five performers who, in his view, represent the highest ideals of the craft—figures who not only changed acting, but shaped who he became as an artist.

At the top of De Niro’s list is Marlon Brando, a towering figure in film history and the person De Niro consistently described as his greatest inspiration.

Despite being an Oscar-winning actor by the time he worked with Brando, De Niro confessed to feeling immense pressure simply being on set with him.

Brando revolutionized Hollywood’s approach to performance through method acting, a technique that prioritized raw emotion over theatricality.

With performances like Stanley Kowalski in *A Streetcar Named Desire* and Terry Malloy in *On the Waterfront*, Brando brought a new kind of emotional honesty to the screen.

De Niro studied Brando closely, not to imitate him, but to absorb his mastery of restraint and inner tension.

When both actors portrayed Vito Corleone—Brando in *The Godfather* and De Niro in *The Godfather Part II*—it marked more than a narrative continuity; it was a symbolic passing of the torch.

De Niro preserved the soul of Brando’s character while exploring it through his own distinct emotional lens.

Their collaboration on *The Score* later in life reflected a quiet reverence, with De Niro still clearly in awe of Brando’s natural presence and power.

Another actor who had a lasting influence on De Niro was Montgomery Clift, known for his deeply internalized performances.

Clift was among the first male actors to step away from theatrical grandstanding and embrace a more nuanced, psychological approach to acting.

With films like *The Search*, *A Place in the Sun*, and *From Here to Eternity*, Clift portrayed vulnerability, insecurity, and moral conflict with unmatched subtlety.

De Niro credited Clift for teaching him that silence and stillness could carry just as much emotional weight as dialogue.

In roles such as Travis Bickle in *Taxi Driver* and Jake LaMotta in *Raging Bull*, De Niro built on Clift’s legacy by embodying characters who were emotionally fractured, often expressing more through a look or a pause than through words.

Beyond the screen, Clift’s rejection of celebrity culture and his fierce devotion to craft also resonated with De Niro, who has similarly kept his personal life private while dedicating himself entirely to the work.

James Dean, though his career was tragically short, also ranks among De Niro’s key inspirations.

With just three films—*East of Eden*, *Rebel Without a Cause*, and *Giant*—Dean redefined the male protagonist as emotionally turbulent and defiantly human.

His characters did not conform to archetypes of good or evil, but instead embodied the restless alienation of a generation.

De Niro was drawn to Dean’s raw intensity and lack of polish, describing him as a “wave of emotion” who didn’t act so much as live through his roles.

The psychological isolation seen in Dean’s characters became a blueprint for many of De Niro’s own performances.

Travis Bickle’s internal chaos in *Taxi Driver*, for example, reflects Dean’s emotional fragmentation—his inability to fit in, to be understood, or to express his pain.

De Niro also appreciated Dean’s approach to life: uncompromising, fiercely dedicated to the art, and entirely uninterested in fame for fame’s sake.

Among the more surprising names on De Niro’s list is Kim Stanley, an actress celebrated within the profession but largely unknown to the general public.

Stanley, a student of Lee Strasberg and a devoted practitioner of method acting, was revered for her uncompromising commitment to psychological authenticity.

Her performance in *The Goddess* revealed her ability to portray emotional instability with an intimacy that felt almost too real.

De Niro admired how Stanley could make each scene feel spontaneous, never repeating the same emotional gesture twice.

He later adopted this ethos in performances such as *The King of Comedy* and *Awakenings*, crafting characters defined not by dramatic flair but by emotional truth.

Stanley’s decision to retreat from the spotlight later in life further impressed De Niro, who viewed it as an act of artistic independence.

Her influence extended to his choice of collaborators and projects, always favoring actors who prioritize character over camera and story over stardom.

Greta Garbo, the legendary Swedish actress from the silent and early sound era, was also among De Niro’s most admired.

Garbo’s mastery lay not in spoken lines, but in her ability to control space and rhythm through expression and presence.

Her iconic performances in films like *Queen Christina* and *Camille* proved that emotion could be conveyed through a single glance or gesture.

De Niro credited Garbo with teaching him that silence could be louder than words.

In minimalist roles like Neil McCauley in *Heat* or Frank Sheeran in *The Irishman*, he embraced Garbo’s philosophy of restraint, letting stillness do the talking.

He also respected Garbo’s principled retreat from Hollywood at the height of her fame, seeing it as a powerful rejection of the industry’s performative nature.

In both technique and temperament, she exemplified an artist who placed the work above the noise—a value De Niro has consistently upheld.

What unites these five artists—Brando, Clift, Dean, Stanley, and Garbo—is not only their innovation, but their shared belief in the emotional power of subtlety.

Each represented a form of acting that prioritized depth over display, truth over technique.

Their influence on Robert De Niro is visible not just in his roles, but in his lifelong commitment to an artistic integrity that resists easy categorization.

For De Niro, admiration is not about fame or popularity; it is about the courage to fully inhabit a character, to expose emotional vulnerability, and to let silence speak when words are not enough.