Robert De Niro is giving credit where credit is due when it comes to girlfriend Tiffany Chen‘s devotion to their daughter.
The actor, 80, offered a glimpse into his life as a father of seven kids, telling The Guardian on Sunday, October 15, “It doesn’t get easier. It is what it is. It’s OK.”
De Niro praised Chen, 46, for being the primary parent raising their daughter, Gia, 6 months “I don’t do the heavy lifting. I’m there, I support my girlfriend. But she does the work,” he noted. “And we have help, which is so important.”
In response to a question about enjoying fatherhood, De Niro said, “Of course I do. [I am happy with] all of it.”
De Niroalso shares son Raphael, 46, with ex-wife Diahnne Abbott. He previously adopted Abbott’s daughter Drena, 52, from a previous relationship as well. In 1995, De Niro and Toukie Smith welcomed twins Julian and Aaron, now 27. The Killers of the Flower Moon star also is a father of son Elliot, 25, and daughter Helen, 11, with ex-wife Grace Hightower.
De Niro started dating Chen in 2021. “It feels great,” De Niro told Hoda Kotb of fatherhood in May. “I have certain awareness — when you’re older you have awareness of certain things in life, dynamics, everything, family dynamics. You can’t avoid learning certain things and how you can deal with those and manage them and this and that, the usual.”
While speaking to The Guardian, De Niro said his experience with Gia hasn’t been the same compared to his other kids.
“With a baby it’s different [than] with my 11-year-old. My adult children. My grandchildren. It’s all different,” he explained. “Well, I don’t talk to the adult children the way I talk to my baby or the way I speak to my 11-year-old, though she’s pretty smart.”
De Niro is not the only actor making headlines for having a child in his 80s. Al Pacino surprised people when his girlfriend, Noor Alfallah, welcomed their first child together earlier this year. The Oscar winner, 83, also shares daughter Julie Marie, born in 1989, with Jan Tarrant, and twins Anton James and Olivia Rose, born in 2001, with Beverly D’Angelo.
“It’s very special. It always has been. I’ve got many kids, but this is really special coming at this time,” Pacino told the Daily Mail in June shortly before Alfallah, 29, welcomed their now-4-month-old baby boy, Roman.
Alfallah has since filed for sole physical custody of their son while agreeing to give Pacino joint legal custody of the baby.
De Niro, for his part, wished his former costar well when Roman was born. “Listen, Al Pacino just had a baby, I was told yesterday morning, and he’s a few years older than me,” he said on the Today show in June. “God bless him, very happy for him.”
De Niro went on to say that it’s “amazing” he and Pacino are both welcoming new babies, adding, “I’m very happy about it.”
