Since the passing of his father 20 years ago, Robert De Niro Jnr has finally come out to talk about his father’s homosexuality and his struggles to creating fine art while the world around him changed, an interview with Out Magazine revealed.
When asked about sharing a name with his father, De Niro, just took off his glasses to wipe his tears and then replied “I get emotional. I don’t know why”.
Although they did not spend so much time together, the legend actor said they were close.
“We were not the type of father and son who played baseball together, as you can surmise. But we had a connection. I wasn’t with him a lot, because my mother and he were separated and divorced…I looked after him in certain ways, the 70 year old said.
The Silver Lining actor had two respected artist parents who separated and divorced when he was just 3 years of age.
About his father homosexuality, he said he was not aware for the most part.
“I wish we had spoken about it much more. My mother did not want to talk about things in general, and you’re not interested when you’re at a certain age”, he added.
The late painter even sat her granddaughter down. De Niro Jnr revealed he did some nice pieces on her (Drena) and only wish he had his father do the same for the whole family.
The 70 year old has remembered his father through a new HBO documentary “Remembering the Artist: Robert De Niro Snr”, that is set to be premiered 9th of this month.
The Oscar winner’s documentary is an attempt to recuperate his father’s legacy.
“I felt I had to. It was my responsibility to make a documentary about him.… You can’t hide anything. That’s the whole point –the truth. I should have done this 10 years earlier, but I’m glad I did it now”, he concluded.
