De Niro: Mueller's Performance Wouldn't Get Him an Oscar

The byline of Robert De Niro's opinion piece for the Washington Post points out the actor received an Emmy nomination for playing Robert Mueller on SNL. So he's perhaps more of an expert than most on a "Mueller performance." And he begins in a tongue-and-cheek fashion, saying that Mueller's decision to play himself as a "calm, confident, [and] dignified" former Marine-turned-public servant was a "valid choice," but not the approach the method actor would have taken. If De Niro was in the hot seat, we would have heard some f-bombs, he explains. "The emphasis would have shifted more to me—which is what audiences expect from their movie stars." Mueller just wasn't "cool enough for today’s distracted audience. Even more important, the Academy doesn't give Oscars for 'calm, confident and dignified.'"

But even if it wasn't a thrilling performance, Mueller did something impressive: he gave everyone what they were looking for. Seriously: De Niro details how Democrats got the detailed evidence they wanted in terms of Russia and obstruction of justice; Republicans didn't want Mueller to add anything new, and he didn't. And De Niro believes Mueller gave the House what it needs to "take action"—which is what he wants to see happen. As for De Niro, he's ready to hang up the suit and take on another role. Perhaps, he suggests, that of House Judiciary Committee Jerry Nadler. "The last time I gained and lost weight to play a scrappy New York street fighter (for Raging Bull), I won an Oscar," he quips. (Read De Niro's full piece here.)