Robert De Niro teared up during an interview about Silver Linings Playbook on Katie Couric's talk show. De Niro appeared on Katie with director David Russell and Bradley Cooper, who plays the film's central character, a young main suffering from a mood disorder.
Silver Linings Playbook hits close to home for David Russell, whose own son suffers from a similar mental condition as the main character. Russell appeared to be fighting back tears for a moment while discussing what the film meant to him. And when Katie Couric asked De Niro what it was like to work on a film with such personal meaning for the director, De Niro unexpectedly began to cry.
"Oh, of course," he said, choking up. "I don't like to get emotional, but I know exactly what he [David] goes through."
Russell said that De Niro, who is known for his intense emotional and physical commitment to each role he plays, had been deeply affected by film's subject matter since he first read the script.
"I thought he was having hay fever, and I realized he was having an emotional reaction," Russell told Katie, in an excerpt quoted by E! Online. "I sat there and watched Robert De Niro cry for 10 minutes and I said 'Wow, he's really connecting with this material and this would be a beautiful thing if it could work out, because I think his heart would be there," he said. "And it is there."
Silver Linings Playbook has received eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress for Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, and Best Supporting Actor for Robert De Niro.
Watch the interview here:
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