Robert De Niro has an enviable career, boasting not just longevity but an impressive body of work. The New York native has appeared in some of the most iconic films of all time, including Goodfellas and the Godfather saga.
In a November 2012 New York Times profile, De Niro opened up about what sparked his initial interest in becoming an actor. “I wanted to do it when I was a kid, around 10,” De Niro, 76, said at the time. “I did it on Saturdays for a year or so, then I went when I was 16 for a while, and then I took a little break. I started more seriously when I was 18 ½ or so.”
He also told the publication that he realized he was good at acting at age 18. “When I got into it more seriously, I saw how far I could go, what you could do, that it wasn’t what I thought when I was younger,” he shared.
This past November, he starred alongside longtime pals and frequent collaborators Martin Scorsese and Joe Pesci in Netflix’s The Irishman, a critically acclaimed feature that required the trio to be de-aged. Speaking on his involvement in the film, he shared his experience of having to act like a younger man during the de-aging scenes.
“I didn’t feel that my physical movements were as aged as someone may suspect or think or see,” De Niro said on Popcorn with Peter Travers in December 2019. “You feel your age, but not the way people would think that you’d feel it. If you try and stay in shape and stay active it can minimize all those age-like things.”
De Niro is this year’s Lifetime Achievement recipient at the 2020 Screen Actors Guild Awards, which he will be honored with on Sunday, January 19. Ahead of his big milestone accomplishment, take a look back at his best roles through the years in Us Weekly’s video above!
