Robert De Niro as former President George Mullen in Netflix's 'Zero Day'Netflix
Legendary actor Robert De Niro, known for his iconic roles in Taxi Driver and The Godfather, has stepped into television for the first time in his career with ‘Zero Day’. However, the 80-year-old star is unsure if he will do it again.
“It’s a lot of work. It’s like doing three movies back to back,” De Niro admitted, highlighting the demanding nature of TV productions.
A High-Stakes Political Thriller
De Niro stars as a former U.S. president in Zero Day, a Netflix limited series exploring themes of truth, deception, and cyber warfare. His character leads the Zero Day Commission in the aftermath of a devastating cyberattack that has thrown the country into chaos and taken thousands of lives.Matthew Modine, who plays a politician in the series, believes the show mirrors real-world concerns. “It’s not a question of if a cyberattack will happen, but when,” he said, emphasizing the growing distrust in institutions.
(L to R) McKinley Belcher III, Mozhan Navabi, Robert De Niro, Jesse Plemons and Connie Britton in ‘Zero Day’
Challenging Role, Intense Preparation
For De Niro, preparing for the role was no easy feat. He described the experience as demanding, especially given the extensive exposition in the script. “There wasn’t much room for paraphrasing or ad-libbing… But it was worth doing,” he shared.
Life Imitating Art
Filming took place during the last U.S. presidential election campaign, and the show’s creators, Noah Oppenheim and Eric Newman, were surprised by how reality seemed to reflect their script.
“Every day on set, we’d see news events unfolding that we had initially thought were just speculation,” Oppenheim said. “It was surreal watching fiction turn into reality.”
Star-Studded Cast and Release Date
Zero Day also features Angela Bassett and Jesse Plemons in key roles. The highly anticipated political thriller is now available on Netflix.
Will De Niro return to television after this? Only time will tell.
