Jason Isbell Suspects Robert De Niro Thought His Natural Accent Was ‘Some Goofy Method Bullsh*t’

Over the past couple years, Jason Isbell has expanded his presence in the world of TV and movies, guesting on an episode of Billions last year and landing a role in the upcoming movie Killers Of The Flower Moon (as did Sturgill Simpson, by the way). Consequently, Isbell has rubbed shoulders with some big-time cinematic figures. That includes Flower Moon co-star Robert De Niro, who Isbell wished a happy birthday today (the actor’s 78th) with a funny message about his own natural way of talking.

Taking to Twitter, Isbell wrote, “Happy birthday to De Niro who I’m pretty sure thought I was pulling some goofy method bullsh*t for a few days until he realized I actually talk this way.”

Yesterday, Isbell shared another delightful nugget that apparently stemmed from his time on the Flower Moon set. A Twitter account about movies posted the classic “You talking to me?” scene from Taxi Driver and noted, “The script for TAXI DRIVER just said ‘Travis talks to himself in the mirror’ and ROBERT DE NIRO improvised one of the most famous lines in cinema.” Isbell shared that and noted, “And Scorsese was sitting at his feet egging him on.”

He added in a follow-up tweet, “Got that story from the source.” In this case, “the source” could have been either De Niro or Taxi Driver director Martin Scorsese, who also directed Flower Moon.