In a sit down with ET Canada, the 79-year-old Oscar winner revealed that he has welcomed a seventh baby while discussing parenting and his most recent film, About My Father.
“I mean, there’s no way around it with kids. I don’t like to have to lay down the law and stuff like that. But, [sometimes] you just have no choice,” he explained. “And any parent, I think, would say the same thing. You always want to do the right thing by the children and give them the benefit of the doubt but sometimes you can’t.”
“I just had a baby,” he shared, though he didn’t provide any further details about the newest family member or the partner he welcomed baby No. 7 with.
The Academy Award winner has six children from previous relationships. De Niro and his first wife, Diahnne Abbott, are parents to daughter Drena, 51, and son Raphael, 46. In 1995, he welcomed twin sons Julian and Aaron, 27, with his former girlfriend, model and actress Toukie Smith. De Niro also shares son Elliot, 24, and daughter Helen Grace, 11, with his ex-wife, Grace Hightower.
Despite all of his acting accolades, those who know De Niro say being a dad is his favorite real-life role. “My jaw dropped when I heard he had another child,” writer Shawn Levy, author of 2014’s “De Niro: A Life,” told Page Six Tuesday.
“I mean he’s going to be 102 when the kid graduates from college. I think it’s crazy. At the same time, I have to say he is absolutely a great dad. In fact, one of the signature accomplishments of his life is keeping his kids and ex-partners close.”
The Oscar winner recently told ET Canada that he teeters between being “loving” and “stern” when it comes to parenting.
“I mean, there’s no way around it with kids. I don’t like to have to lay down the law and stuff like that. But, [sometimes] you just have no choice,” he said.“And any parent, I think, would say the same thing. You always want to do the right thing by the children and give them the benefit of the doubt but sometimes you can’t.”Given the wide-ranging ages of his kids, the actor added that they often “disagree with” him and “give [him] grief.”