Is nothing sacred anymore? The New York Post reports (via The Sun) that Robert De Niro will reprise his iconic role from Martin Scorsese‘s “Taxi Driver” in an upcoming ad campaign for Uber. The ad will feature the 80-year-old actor as the troubled cabbie Travis Bickle, saying several of the character’s catchphrases from the 1976 Palme d’Or-winning film. That includes the movie’s most famous line, “You talkin’ to me?”
“He’s going to be Travis Bickle, saying some phrases and playing up to it,” an unnamed source told The Sun. “[De Niro’s] previous adverts have shown he has no problem poking fun at himself.” Yeah, but that doesn’t make this idea a good one. For one, Bickle’s not exactly a …stable person, making him a difficult candidate to latch an ad campaign onto. Plus, there’s the torching one’s own whole legacy angle, with this ad being De Niro’s latest effort to cash in on a famous role for a quick buck.
But the source justified the actor’s choice to sell out another career high. “A lot of people feel like some of these classic films are his best work,” the source continued, “and signing up to commercials is selling out a bit, but obviously he’s had a very expensive personal life.” That comment is undoubtedly in reference to De Niro’s 2018 divorce from his second wife Grace Hightower. It’s proved to be a costly separation for the actor, with the two selling their $20 million home and De Niro paying Hightower $1 million in alimony a year until she remarries or one of them passes away.
Those costs have forced De Niro to take an additional work, both in terms of films and various commercials. Other ad campaigns the actor has recently done include ones for the UK bakery Warburton’s Bread, Santander Bank, American Express, and Kia Niro. Back in 2021, De Niro’s lawyer Caroline Krauss claimed the expenses surrounding his divorce from Hightower “forced” the actor to take on extra work like those ads. “Mr. De Niro is 77 years old, and while he loves his craft, he should not be forced to work at this prodigious pace because he has to,” Krauss told a Manhattan judge during a virtual divorce hearing that year.
“When does that stop?,” Krauss continued at the hearing. “When does he get the opportunity to not take every project that comes along and not work six-day weeks, 12-hour days so he can keep pace with Ms. Hightower’s thirst for [designer] Stella McCartney?” De Niro and Hightower were together for 20 years, with a five-year hiatus, after they divorced for the first time in 2003. That separation lasts only a year, and they remarried and renewed their vows in 2004. The couple had seven children together.
While the reasons for De Niro lampooning Bickle for Uber are obvious, it’s sad to see such a legendary actor deface an equally legendary role. As noted earlier, Scorsese’s film won the Palme d’Or at Cannes the year of its release, and also nabbed De Niro an Oscar nod for his performance. “Taxi Driver” is frequently cited as one of the director’s best films, one of De Niro’s best roles, and one of the best films of the 1970s. Now, it’s mere fodder for De Niro to keep his finances afloat.
De Niro stays busy on the big screen, too. He stars in three movies this year, the biggest being another role for Scorsese in “Killers Of The Flower Moon,” in theaters October 20. The other two films are “Ezra,” which just premiered at TIFF, and the comedy “About My Father“ with Sebastian Manisalco. Other upcoming projects for De Niro include “Wise Guys,” “Tin Soldiers,” and the upcoming Netflix miniseries “Zero Day.”
So expect to see an octogenarian Travis Bickle in Uber ads sometime in 2024. Let’s hope this story isn’t true, though. Bickle’s fate in Scorsese’s film is bad enough, but ending up a quick way to make some money is even worse.
