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Robert De Niro has confirmed that he was approached to play the part of Josh in the 1988 critically acclaimed movie ‘Big’. The 77-year-old actor who appeared on The Late Night Show starring Jimmy Fallon participated in a game of True or False, where he shocked the audience by confirming his involvement with the movie when questioned by Fallon. De Niro said that there were some troubles with the negotiations which were made for the movie, which led to him dropping out of it and being replaced by Tom Hanks.
Actress Elizabeth Perkins has somewhat confirmed this during her interview with Andy Cohen on the show ‘Watch What Happens with Andy Cohen’. Perkins, who played the love interest of the character Josh in the movie Big said that she had auditioned for the role with De Niro, and that the actor had to part ways due to scheduling conflicts because of which he could not take part in the movie. The actress also said that De Niro, while auditioning for the movie, had brought in a moody tone of horror and that she had imagined a totally different movie with De Niro. She also said that Tom Hanks, as compared to De Niro, brought in a much lighter tone.
Among the queries asked during the True or False game was one about De Niro’s most iconic line as Travis Bickle – “Are you talkin’ to me?” from the timeless classic Taxi Driver by Martin Scorsese, where Fallon asked if it was true that De Niro ad-libbed the line, to which the actor responded by saying that it was more or less true. The actor also added that it was the line he hears the most from his fans.
Big, the 1988 comedy-drama movie was directed by Penny Marshall and starred Tom Hanks as adult Josh Baskik, the young boy who wishes to be ‘big’ and ages to adulthood overnight. The movie also starred Elizabeth Perkins, David Moscow, John Heard, and Robert Loggia. Gary Ross and Anne Spielberg worked as the writers of the movie, produced by Gracie Films, and was distributed by 20th Century Fox. Big was received with critical acclaim upon release and Hanks was particularly applauded for his performance, ultimately winning him an Oscar nomination.