Robert De Niro, 80, tears up while talking about raising baby daughter Gia: ‘I want to be around for as long as I can’

Robert De Niro has spoken candidly about fathering a child in his 80s.

The legendary actor, who last year became a dad of seven upon the birth of daughter Gia with girlfriend Tiffany Chen, teared up as he told AARP how “wondrous” it is.

“I’m an 80-year-old dad and it feels great,” The Godfather star said, adding that he wants to be “around as long as I can”.

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“Everything that I’m consumed with or worried about just goes away when I look at her. It’s wondrous.”

“When she gets older – who knows? But that very sweet way she has of looking at you, taking you in, thinking and watching and observing…”

He added: “I want to be around for as long as I can to enjoy it. Enjoy her.”

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Speaking with The Guardian, The Intern actor revealed Chen does most of the work when it comes to raising Gia.

“It is what it is,” he said, “It’s OK. I mean, I don’t do the heavy lifting.

“I’m there, I support my girlfriend. But she does the work. And we have help, which is so important.”

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Gia is De Niro’s seventh child He is also father to Drena, 51 and Raphael, 46, from his first marriage to Diahnne Abbot, twins Julian and Aaron, 27, with model Toukie Smith, and Elliot, 24, and Helen, 11, from his second marriage with Grace Hightower.

De Niro made headlines in May 2023, at the age of 79, after correcting an ET Canada reporter who asked about his family, revealing he was a dad of seven.

While promoting his movie About My Father, he was asked about his experience as a father to six kids, telling the reporter, “Seven, actually. I just had a baby”.

At the About My Father premiere, De Niro was asked if the latest family addition had come as a surprise.

“How could you not plan that kind of thing?” he told Page Six, seemingly shocked by the question.

He and Chen have reportedly been dating since 2021, after meeting on the set of the 2015 rom-com The Intern, where martial arts instructor Chen made an appearance as a Tai Chi instructor.

When speaking about the kind of dad he is, De Niro said he believes in “being loving with [his] kids” but admits there are times he has “to be stern about stuff”.

“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 told ET Canada reporter Brittnee Blair.

“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.”

While he doesn’t consider himself to be a “cool dad”, the Emmy winner said his kids are “respectful” even if they do “give [him] grief sometimes”.

“My daughter – she’s 11 – she gives me grief sometimes and I argue with her,” he said.

“I adore her, but you know. And my youngest now, that’ll be more to come. But that’s what it is.”

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