Marc Maron Recounts Working with Robert De Niro on Joker

Comedian Marc Maron has appeared in various films, with his one of his biggest roles being in Todd Phillip’s Joker. For that movie, Maron acted alongside legend Robert De Niro briefly and recently revealed he needed some time to get in tune with the actor.

During an appearance on The Howard Stern Show, Maron discussed his brief role in Joker as Gene Ufland, an employee of De Niro’s Murray Franklin and someone who has a brief interaction with Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker. According to Maron, while it was a bit stressful knowing he’d be acting alongside De Niro, his history as an interviewer and comedian helped.

“Eventually, everyone becomes human, so I wasn’t freaked out that I was with De Niro,” Maron said. “When it comes right down to it, he’s a guy just standing over there doing whatever he does.”

However, Maron later joked that it was still stressful, and that in retrospect, Maron thought about how many times someone’s life changed by being in a film with De Niro. “But it is De Niro, and I know I’m doing a scene with De Niro and in retrospect, I started to think about how many guys have done three-line scenes where it changed their f—ing life and he would be hard-pressed to even remember you being in the movie with him,” said Maron.

When it came time to film the scene, Maron thought he did a fine job, but watched as De Niro and Todd Phillips chatted for a moment before Phillips came back and reported that Maron was being a bit too enthusiastic in their conversation.

“I’m lit up. I’ve been in the trailer for four hours already and I’ve been running these three lines and I get out there, and it’s like ‘Action!’ I just start doing the lines, and then it’s ‘Cut!’ and then I go sit in my chair and I watch De Niro sit in his chair,” Maron said. “And then I see him wave Todd over, and Todd walks over to De Niro, and he’s nodding, and then Todd walks over to me, and he goes, ‘Ah, you’re coming in a little hot.’ But it was a good point. You know, Todd said ‘Look, you know, he’s your boss. You wouldn’t just be yelling at him in casual conversation.’ I’m like, ‘Oh right, this isn’t me — no yelling in casual conversation.’”

The 2019 film was both a critical and commercial success with a worldwide gross of over $1 billion at the box office, making it the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time. It received recognition from multiple major award-giving bodies, including two Oscars and two Golden Globes — both for Best Actor and Best Original Sound.