Robert De Niro insisted on wearing waffle-weave underwear around the clock while filming The Deer Hunter

Actor’s extreme method acting habits revealed in new book

The extreme lengths Robert De Niro went to for his role in 1978 classic The Deer Hunter have been revealed in a new book.

One Shot: The Making of The Deer Hunter by Jay Glennie details De Niro's undercover fact-finding missions among the steel communities and his insistence upon staying in authentic clothing, including waffle-weave underwear, at all times.

British writer Glennie was given unprecedented access to De Niro’s personal archive for the book, which also reveals the Oscar-winner’s dispute with a make-up artist who walked out of the shoot after the actor insisted that a co-star, who was not even being filmed at the time, had to have more blood on his face.

The Times reports that De Niro told Glennie he was happy that his co-star Christopher Walken had been told by director Michael Cimino to spit in his face in one scene. “It worked,” the actor, who was unaware of Cimino's direction, said. “It got the reaction the scene needed.”

The book also reveals how one actor who only had two lines in the film, both of which were “f*** it”, had two haircuts and three uniform fittings during his 11 days on set, and De Niro was filmed crossing a road no fewer than 25 times.

The Deer Hunter, which told the story of small-town Pennsylvania steelworkers who served in Vietnam, starred De Niro, Walken and Meryl Streep, and won five Oscars.

De Niro is strongly expected to be in contention for Best Actor at the 2020 Oscars for his role in new Martin Scorsese film The Irishman.

One Shot: The Making Of The Deer Hunter is released 9 December via Coattail Publications.