Taxi Driver Cast Reunite To Mark 40th Anniversary Of Iconic Film TODAY

I can't even do it. You talking to me? You talking to me? I don't see anybody else, you must be talking to me. Okay, you're good at it. It's been four decades since that became one of the most quoted movie lines ever and Taxi Driver became an instant classic. You know, the cast says they knew it was going to be good. Many of them actually took pay cuts to make the movie, including Robert De Niro, who just hit it really big with The Godfather Part II. I had the chance to talk to them as they reunited at the Tribeca Film Festival in honor of Taxi Driver's 40th anniversary. Back in the day, was it hard to get this movie made? Yes, it was very hard. Why is it hard to make that movie? Is it all darkness and grit? Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah. Even at one point I was thinking of doing it on video to just get it made. I really felt very strongly about it. Give me a two-second pitch synopsis. What's the movie? Loneliness. Isolation. The sense of complete isolation from the world, not being able to communicate with anyone, really not knowing how to, can lead to a crossing of that line. Even though if you're born right in the city, it doesn't mean you don't feel isolated or alienated or alone or whatever you want to call it. And I think we all connected to that. That taxi driver's been staring at us. When you first read it, what did you think? I threw it across the room and tried to hit the garbage can because I had no lines. But then, didn't we not go to the St. Regis Hotel and improvise? Is that how we found the lines? That's right. I just knew these two guys were involved. I knew that I'd seen Mean Streets and I went, this has to happen for me. What was your real name? I don't like my real name. I'm just going to say it. You were 12. Yes. You were 12. I think I've made more movies than these guys, though. At 12, dealing with a role that was in the dark world of prostitution, I'm trying to imagine the pitch to your mom. Well, I was an actress, you know, and I think we saw it in a very matter-of-fact way. I think it was more disturbing for people to watch than it was for me as an actor to play it. There's a character in this movie, a very important character, that's not in the room with us now, but that's all around us, and that's the city of New York. Talk to me about how you developed that character, this city, to be such an impactful part of this movie. The first thing that comes to mind is that I'm a New Yorker, so I see everything that way. The whole idea of being in a car, and Bob, he can tell you, he actually drove a cab a couple of nights. It was an interesting experience. I must have done it a week or ten days, give or take. He told me that one of the first feelings he had after a couple of nights was that, and he did it at night, was that a person will get in a car, a stranger, and then control your life, in effect, for the next 20 minutes or 45 minutes. You go where I want you to go. Yeah, exactly. And it was, I even think, a young actor got in the car one night, and he saw that it was you driving the car, and he said, you just won an Oscar. He said, by God, is it that hard to get work? I want to talk about a couple of specific scenes. I want to talk about the scene where you two dance. While it's incredibly unsettling and disturbing, it also is kind of touching. I went out and I met this supposedly ex-pimp, and I rehearsed with him for about two weeks, and he showed me what to do. Pimp had taught me that. It was difficult for me to learn that at the time, actually. He said, you love her, and whatever you say to her, you will keep your word no matter what. It took me a long time to understand that. Let's talk about the other scene that's gotten a little bit of attention. You talking to me? Talking to me? That way on the script? There was no dialogue, I believe, in the scene. I remember asking you, I said, could you say something to yourself in the mirror? It was the last week of shooting, we were over-scheduled five days, it was very difficult, and we said, okay, we're just going to shoot this scene, and locked the door so our assistant director wouldn't get in and whatever, and he started improvising it, and he kept saying, are you talking to me? And I was sort of at his feet, in front of the mirror, right in front of him, and we just kept repeating, he just kept repeating it, and shot a ton of footage on it, and the AD was banging on the door, come on, we got to get out of here, and I said, no, this is good, this is good, just wait, give me another minute, but he just kept, he went on a roll. Are you talking to me? Well, I'm the only one here. It was like a jazz riff, it was just like a solo. What did you say? What do you think? Did you know it would follow you around for 40 years after the movie came out? No, you never know with any of that stuff, I mean, we just did it. Jodi, the movie launched a difficult episode for you. It was because of this role that John Hinckley became obsessed with you, I think. He went on to try to assassinate Ronald Reagan, and that thrust you into a spotlight at a very young age for all the wrong reasons. How did it impact you? Well, you know, it's a part of history that there's really no reason to comment on. It's been 40 years for the movie, so it's probably been 35 years, and a lot of work since then. So it's just a chapter in history, and we've all done bigger and greater things with our lives since then. So last question I'll give to you. 40 years later, is it gratifying to know that you can put this movie on next door and fill a theater with it, and people still come out and care about it that much? Well, it's beyond that. I honestly thought it was a film made because we simply couldn't go on living without making it. And 40 years later, it's extraordinary. It's a great group of people, and I have to say, Robert De Niro was playing a game with me all night. He would not say a line. I kept saying, I said, what is your problem? He would not say a line. He was like, I am not your show pony, Matt Bauer. I'm not doing it. Subscribe by clicking that button down there, and click on any of the videos over here to watch the latest interviews, show highlights, and digital exclusives.