Robert De Niro is proving age is nothing but a number on his 81st birthday.
On Aug. 18, De Niro’s daughter, Drena De Niro, took to Instagram to wish her dad, her “#1 ride or die,” a happy birthday and shared several pictures and a video that caused the hearts of fans of the actor to stop.
The first photo shows the 81-year-old jumping off a tall boat into the water below him. The second video shows De Niro in a full send, diving off the boat and over rotating before hitting the water.
As his audience laughed in the background, Drena is heard asking her dad if he’s okay. “I’m okay,” the actor confirms.
“That second slide gave me anxiety,” one commenter wrote.
“That dive! Omg,” another added.
And while fans are impressed by the 81-year-old’s energy, let’s not forget that De Niro became a father of seven at the age of 79, a job that requires an infinite amount of energy.
In April 2023, De Niro and his girlfriend Tiffany Chen welcomed a baby girl named Gia into the world.
In an interview with USA Today, De Niro admitted that become a father again just before his 80th birthday “doesn’t get easier. It is what it is. It’s OK.”
The actor then admitted that he’s not the one doing “the heavy lifting. I’m there, I support my girlfriend. But she does the work. And we have help, which is so important.”
And when asked if he enjoys being a father, he responded saying, “Of course I do.”
In an interview with The Guardian, De Niro got candid about his age, saying one of his ambitions at this stage of life is to “stay alive.”
“Of course I think about it, at my age,” he said of death before adding, “It’s not going to stop me, but you think about it.”
“You think more about time,” De Niro explained. “Every summer, every new season, everything, you say, ‘Well, I’m going to use these few months of the summer to be with my kids, my family.’ I can’t wait until the next – I don’t know what’s going to happen. So each thing becomes more important. Everything I do, time-wise, is important. Whatever I’m thinking about doing in two years, I’d better think about doing it now.”