The King of Comedy (film) without fists". She went on to write that "De Niro in disguise denies his characters a soul. De Niro's 'bravura' acting in "Mean Streets, Taxi Driver" and "New York, New York" collapsed into 'anti-acting' after he started turning himself into repugnant flesh eggies of soulless characters ... Pupkin is a nothing." Scorsese says that "people were confused with "King of Comedy" and saw Bob as some sort of mannequin". Scorsese has called De Niro's role as Rupert Pupkin his favorite of all their collaborations. Sandra Bernhard, who plays Masha in the film, indicated in a 2013 interview that Jack Black
Robert De Niro personality traits for his character in the film. And although the film did poorly at the box office, reviewers praised De Niro's acting. Film critic Marie Brenner wrote that "for De Niro, it is a role that surpasses even his brilliant and daring portrayal of Vito Corleone in "The Godfather Part II"... his performance deserves to be compared with the very finest". De Niro played Michael Vronsky in the acclaimed Vietnam War film "The Deer Hunter" (1978), for which he was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role. Fearing he had become typecast in mob roles, he began expanding