Robert De Niro reveals true story behind famous ‘Taxi Driver’ scene

Robert De Niro has shared the backstory behind one of the most unforgettable moments in Martin Scorsese’s 1976 masterpiece “Taxi Driver,” revealing that the iconic scene was partially improvised.

During an appearance on “Live with Kelly and Mark” on Thursday, the 81-year-old actor recalled how some of the best moments in film come from spontaneous improvisation. “Some of the best stuff, not always, is when it’s improvised,” De Niro told hosts Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos.

In “Taxi Driver,” De Niro’s portrayal of disturbed cabbie Travis Bickle birthed one of the most memorable scenes in cinema history: standing in front of a mirror, Bickle talks to himself and points a gun at his reflection as he imagines facing off with a foe.

“You talkin’ to me? You talkin’ to me? You talkin’ to me? Then who the hell else are you talkin’ to?” De Niro, as Bickle, famously demands of his invisible adversary. “You talkin’ to me? Well, I’m the only one here. Who the f–k do you think you’re talking to?”

During his chat with Ripa and Consuelos, De Niro said that the scene wasn’t entirely scripted. “The producer [of the film] … said on some show that Marty had said it was all improvised. We had something [on the page], I forget exactly but Marty remembers a lot better than I do,” the actor shared.

“It seemed right,” De Niro added, reflecting on the moment. “It was done spontaneously. You don’t know what’s going to [happen]. That’s the fun of working, especially with someone like Marty Scorsese. It’s nice to be able to go here and there, go off, following the scene or the thrust of the story, but you can go here and there. You never know when that stuff is usable.”

De Niro’s performance in “Taxi Driver” earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. The trophy ended up going to the late Peter Finch for his role in “Network.”

In 2003, Bickle was ranked as the 30th greatest movie villain in movie history by the American Film Institute in their “AFI 100 Years…100 Heroes & Villains” list.

Although plans for a “Taxi Driver” sequel were discussed in the early 2000s, with De Niro and Scorsese working with screenwriter Paul Schrader, the project was ultimately abandoned in 2013 when the famous director grew dissatisfied with the script.

Nearly 50 years since “Taxi Driver,” De Niro’s performance continues to influence film and popular culture. When the “Goodfellas” star made a cameo in a “Debbie Downer” sketch on Sunday’s “SNL 50: The Anniversary Special,” Debbie (Rachel Dratch) responded to De Niro’s request for a straw by asking, “You talking to me? You talking to me?”