Robert De Niro reflects on losing role to Richard Dreyfuss in ‘The Goodbye Girl’

Robert De Niro sent back his mind to the time he was replaced by Richard Dreyfuss in the film The Goodbye Girl.

On Friday, June 14, People Magazine reported that the legendary actor and Quentin Tarantino attended De Niro Con during the 2024 Tribeca Festival for a screening of their 1997 movie Jackie Brown.

Following the screening, De Niro, 80, reflected on his decades-long career and shared an experience from the 1970s when he was fired from a project.

He recounted his brief stint on the set of the 1977 romantic comedy The Goodbye Girl, describing it as "the worst."

De Niro recalled overhearing crew members saying, "He's just not funny," which was a crushing moment for him.

Three days later, he received a call from director Mike Nichols, who expressed that the production was headed in a different direction.

Nichols conveyed his regret, telling De Niro, "I think we're going to end it," and expressed that he felt terrible about the decision.

The Irishman star was then replaced by Dreyfuss, and the script was rewritten. The production, initially titled The Goodbye Girl, eventually became to Bogart Slept Here, directed by Herbert Ross.

However, De Niro do not seem to be sour about the replacement instead he is a fan of the finished product, noting, "Richard was great, wonderful in it. And he won an Academy Award actually for that part."

Additionally, the story of De Niro's departure from the project was previously detailed in Shawn Levy’s 2014 biography, De Niro: A Life.