In The Untouchables, did De Niro gain weight to play Al Capone? Or was it all make-up?

In classic De Niro style he gained the weight necessary for the part. I read that he had the measurements of Capone's actual suits replicated and gained weight accordingly so to fit into them. Now thats dedication.

I guess that's the reason why he is my fav actor. He becomes his character. He can play any role.

Dito, he's my favorite actor too! He's so diverse it's uncanny. Didn't he gain like 60 pounds for his role in Raging Bull!?

Yes, he went to Italy and France and ate alot!

Man, that's a LOT of weight to add to yourself, just for a movie. Now, was it mostly muscle or fat? Also, does anyone know how much Tom Hanks had to put on for his role in Cast Away. He looks like he had to pack on a few pounds as well!

I think it was the opposite with Tom Hanks. I think he had to lose weight to play that role.

Really, it looks like in some scenes that he had to gain it? Maybe he did gain it due to old age, but I thought I remembered hearing that he at first had to gain weight, and then as you pointed out, he had to loss it again?

Well, before Tom Hanks started on Cast Away, he had previously done a role for The Green Mile and in that movie he had to gain weight. So he already had close to the weight necessary for Cast Away and they filmed the scenes prior to the airplane crash. Then, they halted production and waited almost a year for him to lose close to 100 lbs.

DeNiro had to gain at least 50 lbs for "Raging Bull." He also gained weight (but not as much) for "Untouchables." Even more authentic: He had his hair plucked out, one by one, to simulate Capone's baldness (ouch!). He also had Sulka make silk underwear just like Capone's, even though we never see him in it on screen.
I was all leaped up by the prospect of DeNiro as Capone, so I waited on line to see "Untouchables" on its opening day. Was disappointed that DeNiro only had a few cameos (they were good). But Sean Connery's performance more than made up for that.

When DeNiro gained weight for The Untouchables, he didn't show himself in public until the film's premire. I personaly hated Conerry in that film. It seems his idea of an Irish accent is replacing every s with a sh. That film also would have been better if given to a better director. It had more than a fair helping of trademark DePalma stupidity, and his impersonation of Sergie Eisenstein's Battleship Potempkyn, was pathetic.

Did he also grow his hair and beard?

De Niro felt tortured when he was gaining weight for the role of Jake la Motta. all he did was eat and sleep. . .

GoodFella