March 17, 2025
Apparently, Robert De Niro is playing two characters in a film for the first time. It is the movie titled The Alto Knights.
The Academy-winner actor said playing such opposite roles - two rival mob bosses - was a challenge.
At the film’s premiere in London, he said to play Frank Costello and Vito Genovese, he had selected an actor to read opposite him during shooting.
“I found I couldn’t just do it with somebody just reading lines," the Heat star said. “I had to do it with another actor, a character that I could believe would be either Vito or Frank."
“So I interviewed the actors who were playing other mob guys in the film, and I decided on this guy … he was terrific," he continued.
“He learned both parts, and he was great, I couldn’t have done it without someone like him doing it.”
Sharing his views on both characters, Robert said Vito is “more explosive” and “more spontaneous,” but Frank is “probably closer” to his real self.
“The idea of me playing both parts came up when we were talking about who could play the other part, the Vito part, and I thought about it, I said, okay for a couple of days, let me try it," he concluded. “Once I committed, I just had to figure out how to do it.”
The Alto Knights will be out on March 21.