Hey parents, Robert De Niro is just like Us.
In a new interview with The Sunday Times, De Niro, 81, admitted that he wakes up each morning to his baby daughter Gia and the soothing sounds of Rachel Accurso, better known as Ms. Rachel — the YouTuber-turned-millionaire whose videos focus on childhood development and language skills.
“I’m an early riser,” he told the outlet. “I’ve got a 19-month-old baby. I spend my mornings watching Ms Rachel with her, and I give her her bottle.”
As for whether or not the Hollywood icon changes Gia’s diapers, the proud father of seven insisted, “No, no, but I used to.”
Gia is De Niro’s seventh child and first with partner Tiffany Chen, whom he met on the 2015 set of The Intern. The two-time Oscar winner also shares adult children Drena, 57, and Raphael, 49, with ex-wife Diahnne Abbott; twins Julian and Aaron, 29, with ex Toukie Smith; and son Elliot, 26, and daughter Helen, 13, with his second wife, Grace Hightower. De Niro and Hightower, 69, split in 2018.
De Niro is also a grandfather as Raphael has three young children. Drena’s only child, Leandro, died last July at age 19.
In terms of fatherhood, De Niro said he doesn’t know his children would describe him. “Oh God, they would all have a different answer. Family is so complex,” he admitted. “I try my best, that’s all. I hope they’ll be happy.”
There’s no denying he puts in the effort, as De Niro recently took a trip with his son Elliot to see the gorillas in Rwanda. “That was worth doing,” he told The Times. “I like a safari too, and I’m interested in going to Madagascar.”
Disneyland, however, is off his bucket list. “I struggle with that — the rides,” he insisted.
De Niro recently called Gia a “pure joy” after celebrating her first birthday in March, telling Entertainment Tonight, “She had a little cake, it was very nice, sweet.”
“Well, she’s pure joy,” he continued, “there’s nothing about her, there’s no judgement, there’s no anything, she just is what she is and it’s just pure joy for god sakes.”
He added in an interview with People last year, “She’s such an adorable baby. So sweet. [When I] look at her, everything else goes away. So it’s a great joy and relief to just be with her in the moment.”
De Niro is currently working on his next business venture: opening the Nobu Beach Inn on the tiny Caribbean island of Barbuda. He now co-owns 57 restaurants and 42 hotels around the globe — an empire built up over 35 years since he opened his first restaurant, the Tribeca Grill, in New York in 1990.
The actor is also set to star in 2025’s Alto Knights after appearing in 2024’s Joker follow-up Folie à Deux.
“I tell any actor, I tell my own kids this: if you’re reading for something, assume you’re not gonna get the part. And that’ll free you, if anything. That’ll free you to make a bolder choice, maybe,” De Niro told Stephen Colbert of his advice for auditioning actors.
He has starred in countless films and doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon.
When asked if he plans to retire in the aforementioned People interview, De Niro said, simply, “Not at the moment.”
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