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Blogs by Ronald Dondiego
Taxi Driver 11/24/2005 2:58:07 PM
I drove Robert De Niro twice ... I drove Robert Di Nero twice, and was quite impressed with the man. Although I thought he was perhaps a troubled soul, at least that was my first impression of him. As an actor like everyone else I am in awe of him. I don't think that he actually ever made a living driving a cab, however, in the first scene of Taxi Driver I saw that he had totally captured the mood of a rainy night, when the city goes dark and cold, and the people you drive, and the people you see, all look like strange creatures from another world. Or if not that, they look like freaks seen through a convex lens. I guess that's why his fleeting vision of beauty sets the action for when he goes totally beserk. Ah, Travis, you were captive to a night of falling stars and astral distortions of a world gone awry.
The second time I drove Robert De Niro, I got a totally different feeling about him. He was in character and speaking fluent Italian with a friend, or perhaps a family member. It was windy. The wind blow off his hat as he opened the rear passenger door. It was an expensive hat. But he waved his hand after he got into my taxi as if to say don't worry about it. But I got out of my cab and retrieved his hat, then I drove him to a hotel on 32nd street. Still not realizing that he was Robert De Niro. He seemed more like Marcello Mastriani, another great Italian actor. But then he did something odd. He got out of my cab, and walked over to the driver's window to pay me.
He started to pay me one dollar at a time... After the fifth or sixth dollar I looked up at his face and realized all at once that it was Mr. De Niro. He beamed a smile, pinched my check and said something to me in Italian. I kind of understood it to mean that he thought I was I good guy. I drove away amazed. God bless you Robert De Niro!
