There's something physically that's so graphic. He loses (his title) and gains all the weight and he falls apart in that sense. 'So I told Marty, 'Read the book, there's something there. 'The book, for some reason, it wasn't great literature, but something about it, it had a lot of heart,' De Niro said. De Niro gained 60 pounds to play LaMotta in his later years, when he got divorced and spent time in prison for enabling the prostitution of a teenage girl. After losing his middleweight championship title to Sugar Ray Robinson in 1951, LaMotta moved his family to Miami, where he ran a nightclub and performed as a stand-up comic and singer. because everything we put into it.'ĭe Niro, 77, first read LaMotta's 1970 memoir while filming 'The Godfather Part II,' and was intrigued by the boxer's fall from grace. 'Well, I feel great,' De Niro said, earning laughs. 'The one thing that I always felt is that we didn't know how well it'd do but we knew it'd be a special movie.

Tribeca Festival: David Chappelle premieres emotional new documentary 'This Time This Place' (A) Do you realize how great a film and performance this is? And (b) how does that feel having done that together?' 'Thank you for making it and inspiring so many actors and filmmakers for generations, including myself. 'This is a true cinematic masterpiece that's going to live on for centuries,' said Leonardo DiCaprio, another longtime Scorsese collaborator, who moderated Sunday's Q&A. It co-stars Cathy Moriarty and Joe Pesci as Jake's wife and brother, respectively. 24 on the American Film Institute's 100 greatest American movies of all time list, tells the true story of former boxing champ Jake LaMotta. The filmmaking legend sat down with Robert De Niro for a virtual panel at Sunday's Tribeca Festival to discuss their 1980 boxing classic, which was nominated for eight Academy Awards and won two (including best editing and actor, for De Niro).

Martin Scorsese left it all in the ring making 'Raging Bull.' Watch Video: Jake LaMotta dies at 95 years old

Robert de niro old boxing movie