Harvey Keitel Stated That He Put His Life In Danger To Play ‘Taxi Driver’ Pimp

When you think of an actor taking silly risks to perfect a character or make the role as realistic as possible, Tom Cruise is probably the first name that comes to mind. He personifies putting yourself in jeopardy for a position. This list contains several actors who put themselves in jeopardy to get the perfect performance. However, Harvey Keitel’s name is rarely used in these conversations.

Keitel, a frequent collaborator of Martin Scorsese, has a great story about how he put himself in dangerous situations to improve his performance in the 1976 film Taxi Driver. It was also one of those examples. The best example of unwavering dedication to work. Of course, his co-star in the film, Robert DeNiro, made his own potentially destructive choices to make sense of his character. However, Keitel may have gone too far.

Harvey Keitel Is Preparing for ‘Taxi Driver’

In Taxi Driver, Keitel plays pimp Matthew “Sport” Higgins. Before the movie started, the actor knew nothing about being a pimp or what it entailed. He is always noted for his meticulous preparation and research for each job. This part matches his reputation for playing “tough” roles in the series. However, being ignorant of his personality has put him in a difficult situation. Both DeNiro’s Travis Bickle and Keitel’s Higgins are challenging pieces to prepare and perfect.

As part of the preparation for the film, both adopted an acting approach. DeNiro, who plays a night shift taxi driver, spent two weeks driving through New York’s most dangerous streets in a yellow cab before production began. He wanted to know what life behind the wheel of a taxi would be like. For her part, Keitel has dabbled in the role of a drugged pimp. His prep technique? Learn from a real-life pimp.

Keitel went to Times Square and talked to prostitutes trying to meet their manager. When it didn’t work, he went through someone to get a real pimp. He spent two weeks working with this individual. They take turns playing a girl and a pimp, inventing and rehearsing sequences, and getting used to the way of life. There was something about that way of life that intrigued him, or at least what that guy told him. He said that pimps love their women and never lie to them, no matter what they do. Keitel commented in a December 2015 interview with Collider: “It took me a while to realize and absorb that. “I’m not sure I have.”

Harvey Keitel Can’t Play Taxi Driver

Keitel’s portrayal of Higgins has become one of the most prominent roles of the New Hollywood era. But if it weren’t for the script correction, he might not have gotten the role, or maybe it wouldn’t have existed. The Taxi Driver script was written by Paul Schrader, who first saw Higgins as a Black character. He created the script this way and the casting was originally planned with this in mind.

However, due to how the film would end, the studio stepped in and asked Schrader to adjust some elements of his original script. At the end of the film, Bickle enters the facility where Higgins does most of his work and opens fire, killing Higgins and the others. Columbia Pictures predicted that this scene, in which a white man shoots a black man, would spark riots. As a result, Schrader rewrote the script to make Higgins white. It was then that Keitel took on the role and delivered an incredible performance against DeNiro. As they say in Hollywood, the rest is history.

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