Andrew Cuomo Approves of Robert De Niro Playing Him in a Pandemic Movie: “He’s a Genius”

During his virtual appearance Thursday on CBS’ The Late Show, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo was informed by host Stephen Colbert that Robert De Niro wants to play him if a movie were to be made about the coronavirus pandemic.

“In the movie of this, when it’s finally made, who do you want to have play you?” asked Colbert, adding that De Niro had, just the previous day, said he wants to play Cuomo. The pair also briefly talked about Brad Pitt, who, after being courted by Dr. Anthony Fauci, popped up playing the physician recently on NBC’s Saturday Night Live.

“De Niro, I am a big De Niro fan,” Cuomo told Colbert. “He is just phenomenal. The breadth of his ability, I mean, just look at all the roles he’s played. He can do anything, right? Deer Hunter, Cape Fear, he can do comedy… how ’bout Taxi Driver?”

Offered the governor: “I’m going to do Taxi Driver. The next press conference, when a reporter asks me a question” — and then launched into an impression of De Niro’s character Travis Bickle in the the 1976 crime drama. “You talkin’ to me?” Cuomo concluded by saying, “Oh, boy, that’d be a treat. I’m a big De Niro fan. He’s a genius.”

De Niro, 76, shares similarities with Cuomo by being born and raised in New York City. Among the real-life figures he’s played, the actor has tackled former FBI director Robert Mueller on Saturday Night Live and mob boss Frank Sheeran in Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman.

During De Niro’s late-night appearance on Wednesday, he said that Cuomo is “doing what any president should do” in response to the virus.

View the clip of Cuomo chatting with Colbert on The Late Show, above.

Related Stories

Related Story

Robert De Niro Wants to Play Andrew Cuomo in a Pandemic-Themed Movie