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Robert De Niro got so nervous directing his first film he asked friends for advice.
Robert De Niro got so nervous directing his first film he asked friends for advice
The ‘Taxi Driver’ actor, 79, got behind the camera for 1993’s ‘A Bronx Tale’ – in which he also starred – but said he was riddled with jitters as the venture was “something new”.
He told Page Six about how he “got advice” from “certain friends who had been in similar situations – actors who directed movies”: “You just gotta jump in and do it and take it moment by moment, day by day and that’s it.”
Based on a one-man play by Chazz Palminteri, 71, ‘A Bronx Tale’ features De Niro as a straight-laced bus driver trying to keep his son out of the clutches of a local mafia boss played by Chazz.
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De Niro added he took on the project as he was looking for something to direct “and I couldn’t find anything”.
He said: “I wanted to direct something and finally I said, ‘I better make a decision,’ and then I saw Chazz’s one-man show and I said, ‘Let me see about this.’
“I spoke to him and I felt I could add something to it and I like Chazz, we had a great relationship, so it was all nice.”
De Niro also hopes the film has aged well, adding: “I’m going to see it again. I hope it does, I haven’t seen it in a while!”
The actor has also revealed his oldest children haven’t met his baby daughter yet.
He and girlfriend Tiffany Chen had Gia Virginia two months ago and the ‘Raging Bull’ star is hoping to bring his entire brood – which also includes Drena, 51, and Raphael, 46, with first wife, Diahnne Abbott, 27-year-old twins Julian and Aaron, with Toukie Smith and Elliot, 24, and Helen, 11, with 68-year-old Grace Hightower – together soon.
Asked if his older kids had met their new baby sister, he told People: “Not yet, but they will.”
