Robert De Niro has an idea of what he wants his tombstone to read, and it has to do with his children.
The 81-year-old actor was invited as a guest on “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?“ on Friday (Sept. 13) when he was asked about his role as a father – especially now that five of his children are grown adults.
“I’m trying my best,” he said to Chris Wallace. “I’m going to put on my gravestone, ‘I tried my best.'”
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De Niro went on to explain that he was ‘thinking about that the other day’ and decided that, as well as, “I tried my best,” he would also want it to also read, “Please forgive me for everything that I’ve done.”
When asked if he would describe himself as a good father, De Niro, again, said he’s trying his best.
“No! I tried my best. That’s all I can say,” he said to Wallace. As the actor became emotional, De Niro said that while he was always busy with his acting career, he always loved his kids. And that’s something that will never change.
Robert De Niro has 7 children with 4 women
De Niro is a proud father to seven children – including one who he adopted, five who are adults, one who is almost a teenager, and one who was born last year. His children’s ages range from 53 to one year old.
He shares two children (Drena, 53, and Raphael, 47) with Diahnne Abbott, twin sons, Julian and Aaron, 28, with Toukie Smith, and two children, Elliot, 26, and Helen Grace, 12, with ex-wife Grace Hightower.
His seventh child, Gia Virginia Chen-De Niro, who he shares with current girlfriend Tiffany Chen, was born on April 6, 2023, but he didn’t share the news with the media until a month later – to everyone’s surprise.
It wasn’t until he was asked about his six kids in an ET Canada interview that he made the correction. “Seven actually,” he said to the interviewer – adding that he “just had a baby.”
De Niro celebrated his 81st birthday last month
Robert De Niro celebrated his 81st birthday on August 17. And if his daughter’s Instagram post is any indication at all, it appears as if De Niro is diving head-first into his 80s – and he’s doing it in style.
His eldest daughter, Drena, posted a series of photos and videos of her father to help him ring in his 81st birthday, and one of the videos was of De Niro literally jumping off a boat and into the open water.
You can hear Drena in the background calling him “crazy” and asking him if he’s okay – which he was.
“Happy 81st Bday to my Dad and #1 ride or die .. Love you with all my ♥️♥️♥️ #BobbyD forever ✨✨ all pics and vids #tbts” she wrote in the caption.
De Niro opens up about aging as he enters his 80s
During his recent interview with Chris Wallace, De Niro talked about what it’s like being 81 years old and how he’s learning to make the most of it. “I’m older, you know, I’m 81,” said De Niro. “Things just change.”
His advice… “Embrace it. Embrace whatever you’ve been given.”
It’s not the first time he has opened up about aging. In fact, the two-time Academy Award winner talked about how “aware” he was of his age in an interview with The Guardian in October 2023.
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“Everything I do, time-wise, is important,” he explained – adding that “each thing becomes more important” with time. “Whatever I’m thinking about doing in two years, I’d better think about doing it now.”