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Robert De Niro's type

Economica

Dhampyr
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What say you to Robert De Niro as an INFJ?

Notoriously reticent, there's not much on YouTube with him, but there is this:

Talking about three of his iconic roles (16 minutes)
Being asked silly questions while jetlagged (2 minutes)

IMDB profile (quotes at the bottom)

Matt Damon on working with De Niro in The Good Shepherd (Link):

Bob [De Niro] was just insistent on absolute naturalism and realism. He’s a student of human behavior. I’ve never seen an actor as famous as him walk into a room and do what he does, which is he just disappears. He absolutely disappears. He sits there and he watches everything. He sees absolutely every interaction. The reason his work remains so good, and he remains so relevant as an artist, is because he sits there and he is constantly just downloading human behavior. Oftentimes actors become famous and they end up doing imitations of their own performances, or imitations of what they think people might do in certain situations. Very few of them sit there and do the kind of rigorous observation that it takes to embody people in a subtle, nuanced and real way.
 

Siúil a Rúin

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It's possible. The reticence can be indicative of any really, really extreme IN. It is clear how intensely private he is. The quote about disappearing and observing human behavior is spot on. Looking at characters from every angle also seems rather Ni. There were also quotes about him being overly intense about acting when younger and maturity leads to a more relaxed confidence.
 
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The_Liquid_Laser

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He's definitely ISxx. My guess is ISTJ, but he's so private that it's hard to really tell. I can't see him as any type of NF though.
 

Economica

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He's definitely ISxx. My guess is ISTJ, but he's so private that it's hard to really tell. I can't see him as any type of NF though.

Are you sure you're ENTP? You seem so J. :huh:

Mind backing up your "definitely S" reading?
 

The_Liquid_Laser

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Are you sure you're ENTP? You seem so J. :huh:

Lol, the tag on my back says "ENTP". Why do you say I am a J? :D

Mind backing up your "definitely S" reading?

Well I think we can all agree he is an Introvert. I don't see any part of his life that strikes me as an NF, and I can't conceive of him as an INTP either. That description of him sitting there and observing everything is a description of Ni or Si, so I guess he could be INTJ, but also could be ISTJ or ISFJ. (I haven't fully ruled out ISxP either until I find out more about him.)

The description of him being naturalistic though lends itself to more Si than Ni, since Si is more concrete. He is acting out what he sees rather than extrapolating or inventing something new like you would expect in Ni. He's a fantastic actor, but his acting style looks different from most other actors, which makes a good case for an SJ type. But I'm not really sold on any type for him yet. The only two letters I'm fairly sure of are I and S, and I could be convinced INTJ if a good enough case was made.
 

Totenkindly

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He always has seemed very S to me.

He also seems to take on (and excel with) very S-styled roles. What I see with N's is that they do a variety of pictures (some real, some very very fanciful); but if you examine de Niro's career, he has almost always (as far as I can recall) confined himself to down-to-earth, very tangible roles and pictures. Even his fluff pictures (like Meet the Parents) are not N-flavored movies, they are still very S in the humor and situations.

He also seems to have a very down-to-earth approach to his acting style itself. It's not a hi-falutin' fancy-pants style like Johnny Depp can portray sometimes, his characters are ALWAYS have grit. You can almost reach out and TOUCH them, they are the next door neighbor or the college friend or the uncle you drink beers with at the annual family picnic. (This is similar to the sort of pictures that Clint Eastwood directs, interestingly... the characters are not as much archetypes, the situations not really epic, as they are tangible average people and the situations believable.)

I would be very surprised if he was an N of any sort. I would also call him a T. I think the T is what contributes to his impersonality/reclusiveness. He doesn't show a public persona because he sees that as irrelevant to his career, he's very happy as a T to be an unknown in the media.
 

The Ü™

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Then again, they do call it "acting" for a reason.
 

Totenkindly

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Then again, they do call it "acting" for a reason.

And next you will try to tell me that Ashton Kutcher is actually a WONDERFUL actor because only a good actor can portray bad acting so perfectly.
 

Randomnity

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I think IXTX makes the most sense....he strikes me as an ISTP or maybe an INTP, actually.
 

The_Liquid_Laser

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Then again, they do call it "acting" for a reason.

If you study acting enough though you find that there is no perfect acting style. Some actors excel at creating complex motivations for their character. Others naturally have good reactions and chemistry with basically anyone they act with. And others have well defined, crisp gestures and voice inflections. All of the really talented actors still have their strengths and weakness, but their acting style is often a reflection of their type. It's a reflection of how they view the world and what they consider important when creating a character.
 

The Ü™

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No, I meant acting in relation to the real person's type. I guess the quotation marks threw everyone off. And I think it's just as silly to try and type people based on interviews.
 

Siúil a Rúin

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No, I meant acting in relation to the real person's type. I guess the quotation marks threw everyone off. And I think it's just as silly to try and type people based on interviews.
Agreed.

Especially extremely jet-lagged interviews. People are typing actors based on the roles they play. Remember it is quite common for INFJs to play their opposites.
typelogic said:

I'm not sold on DeNiro as an INFJ, but so far the best argument backed up with information leans in that direction. I'm still waiting to hear why he's an S besides "he seems it."
 

Totenkindly

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I'm still waiting to hear why he's an S besides "he seems it."

Um, was there any better explanation offered for the NF interpretation? (I must have missed it.)

He does not pattern-lock with me for an NF configuration, based on my mental repository. (Oh gee, I sound like a geek...) He pattern locks much better with the S's I know.

That's not specific proof of anything, but it certainly directs my approach.

Still, now I am starting to just speculate, so I will wait until I do some real research. :blush:
 

Siúil a Rúin

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Um, was there any better explanation offered for the NF interpretation? (I must have missed it.)
The quote in the OP could well represent other types, but it is the epitome of NF-ness (particularly the INFJ) to the best of my comprehension. It is his emphasis on empathy as the foundation of his art.

OP said:
Bob [De Niro] was just insistent on absolute naturalism and realism. He’s a student of human behavior. I’ve never seen an actor as famous as him walk into a room and do what he does, which is he just disappears. He absolutely disappears. He sits there and he watches everything. He sees absolutely every interaction. The reason his work remains so good, and he remains so relevant as an artist, is because he sits there and he is constantly just downloading human behavior. Oftentimes actors become famous and they end up doing imitations of their own performances, or imitations of what they think people might do in certain situations. Very few of them sit there and do the kind of rigorous observation that it takes to embody people in a subtle, nuanced and real way.

More DeNiro quotes from the links in the OP
DeNiro said:
"It's important not to indicate. People don't try to show their feelings, they try to hide them."

One of the things about acting is it allows you to live other people's lives without having to pay the price."

I've never been one of those actors who has touted myself as a fascinating human being. I had to decide early on wether I was to be an actor or a personality."

Some descriptors of INFJs from TypeLogic page.
INFJ said:
INFJs have a knack for fluency in language and facility in communication. In addition, nonverbal sensitivity enables the INFJ to know and be known by others intimately.

Due in part to the unique perspective produced by this alternation between detachment and involvement in the lives of the people around them, INFJs may well have the clearest insights of all the types into the motivations of others, for good and for evil. The most important contributing factor to this uncanny gift, however, are the empathic abilities often found in Fs, which seem to be especially heightened in the INFJ type (possibly by the dominance of the introverted N function).

I'm not sold on this being his type, but i understand why the thread starter might think this. It is compelling.
 

The Ü™

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Agreed.

Especially extremely jet-lagged interviews. People are typing actors based on the roles they play. Remember it is quite common for INFJs to play their opposites.

Yes, that's why I suggested that Vin Diesel was an xNFJ, since he usually plays xSTP characters. I would also suspect that N actors are better at impersonating different characters, while S actors are a personality.

As I said once before, doing research on the actor's interests throughout their childhood is undoubtedly a much better indication of their type.
 

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Lol, the tag on my back says "ENTP". Why do you say I am a J? :D

Because you unreservedly disagreed with my typings, I'm afraid. :doh: :blush:

I had a bad posting day yesterday. I'm better now. :) (Note to self: If using smileys doesn't come naturally, don't post. :1377:)

TLL and Jennifer, I see where you're coming from with the S (and T) feels. I guess we need more data! ;) It really is too bad De Niro doesn't do the talk show circuit or open up much in written interviews.

Incidentally, I'd love to hear people's takes on the other typings I posted over the weekend (and previously of course). I promise to be less pig-headed than I was about Reese Witherspoon. :yes:
 

SuperFob

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I'll start with what was said about the way Robert De Niro is known to observe human behavior. It was said that actors who do that must be S's.

I don't think that's true at all. I don't think observing human behavior and using it in one's acting technique in any way points to someone being an S. In fact, it may even be an indicator of them being an N. I know this because I've acted before and done the exact same thing.

The thing about me is that I'm like a sponge- I tend to soak people in. Whenever I spend a lot of time around someone, I start acting like them. I pick up their voice inflections, mannerisms, accent, etc. Why do people think it's an S thing? It's not about the details for me, because I hardly pay attention to all the little tics in the way a person talks and moves. My combination of N and F just absorbs all of that in a subconscious way the same way I tend to absorb other people's emotional states. I'm just really good at spending time around someone, detecting their 'aura', and then imitating them effortlessly without thinking about it. It's something I've noticed other NF actors I've met can do very well, too.

Leaving that behind, though- His acting style is a known thing. And through what's known about it, I don't think it's S-derived at all. Robert De Niro was trained by Stella Adler, and it was a training that consisted of him learning how to act through his imagination. Stella Adler's acting technique was all about developing the imagination and then using it to immerse oneself in the imaginary circumstances of a play. In other words, Stella Adler-trained actors acted by turning their characters and scenes into personal fantasy-lives. Robert De Niro was known to be very loyal to this acting technique. And it's not S at all. Stella Adler once said that her acting style, the one Robert De Niro used, was empathy. The imagination comes from N and F. The fact that Robert De Niro was so good at this acting style lends me to believe that he was undoubtedly an NF, and quite possibly, as the OP stated, an INFJ.
 

Quinlan

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I don't think observing human behavior and using it in one's acting technique in any way points to someone being an S.


Yeah, I don't think it points either way really, just points to being a thoughtful actor, which any type can be if they want to.
 
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