I kind of forgot that Robert DeNiro is actually married. I thought Bob and Grace Hightower were simply “longterm partners.” They’ve been together for a really long time, so why don’t I have any memory of them actually getting hitched? Was it hush-hush? Or is it common-law? Anyway, Grace and Bob have just welcomed their second child together – via surrogate. Grace gave birth to their son Elliot in the 1990s, and now they are parents to newborn Helen Grace. This is Robert’s sixth child overall:

Robert De Niro and his wife, Grace Hightower De Niro, have welcomed a daughter, his rep tells PEOPLE.

Helen Grace, born via surrogate, weighed in at 7 lbs., 2 oz.

She is the second child for the couple, who first met back in 1987 in London and are already parents to son Elliot, 13. 


The Academy Award winning actor, 68, also has four other children: daughter Drena, 40, and son Raphael, 35, with former wife Diahnne Abbott, as well as 16-year-old twin sons Julian and Aaron, born via surrogate with ex-girlfriend Toukie Smith.

[From People]

God, Robert’s twin sons are already 16? I remember seeing photos of the twins when they were toddlers!! Jesus, I’m old. As is Bob DeNiro. He’s 68 years old!!! And Grace is 56 years old!! I mean, loving parents are loving parents, at any age. But… really? SIXTY-EIGHT. I don’t even know. Congratulations to the happy couple and welcome to the world, baby Helen Grace.

Photos courtesy of Fame.

At the Cannes jury photocall, Uma Thurman showed up in a rather stunning, figure-flattering white Dolce & Gabbana dress with which I was initially quite taken, but then I noticed the eyelet detailing. Actually, the sleeve details are pretty okay and not a deal breaker, but then there’s the awful matter of the flowery eyelet pattern in the boob area, which looks very out of place and sort of kills the entire dress up close.

Still and as a former model, Uma knows how to work a less than perfect outfit, and the dress really flatters her from a few feet away.

Other jurors in attendance included Jude Law and Robert DeNiro. Kaiser, CB, and I are sort of wondering how long Jude will take to get someone pregnant in the coat room at one of Canne’s many notorious parties.

Also, the everchanging hair line of Jude must certainly ebb and flow whenever he’s getting some action. Is it possible to remove one’s hair plugs?

At present, Jude’s hair would indicate that he hasn’t gotten laid yet since landing at the airport. However, there are still several days of the festival left to endure, and Jude won’t be alone for long.

Photos courtesy of Lia Toby/WENN

Ricky Gervais was obnoxious during his hosting stint for the Golden Globes, but that’s what we’ve come to expect from him. People asked if he went too far when he hosted the Globes last year, (last year was the first time the Globes had had a host in 15 years) and this time he took it up a notch. I found him funny as hell, but I gossip for a living and love it when someone takes the piss out of celebrities. The best part of his opening monologue was when Ricky mimicked Crystal Harris jerking off Hugh Hefner. That was so over the top that I was crying laughing. He didn’t just do a quick demonstration, and went on with it for a while. There’s of course controversy over his intro, particularly a gay Scientologist joke he made, but that’s probably why they hired him. The Globes are getting more buzz than usual and he definitely made people laugh. Here’s what Popeater says about it:

Gervais started out by ripping into Charlie Sheen, admittedly an easy target, so easy that those jokes about Sheen being drunk by breakfast were given a pass. Who among us hasn’t laid into Sheen these past few months? It was an ample way to start.

But then Ricky went after a weaker target, ‘The Tourist.’ Sure it was a critical and commercial bomb, but Johnny and Angie aren’t exactly the kind of stars who laugh along with the joke. “I haven’t even seen ‘The Tourist,’” Gervais said. “Who has?”…

Gervais then mentioned that the special effects team from ‘Sex and the City 2′ should have been nominated for making the cast look younger on the movie poster.

“Girls, we know how old you are. I saw one of you on an episode of ‘Bonanza’!” Apparently, Ricky’s mom never told him the two taboos in comedy are still a woman’s age and her weight.

His most shocking joke of the night came when he mentioned that Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor were heterosexual actors who played gay characters in the film ‘I Love You Philip Morris.’

“So the complete opposite of some Scientologists, then,” Gervais said. He admitted his lawyers had vetted that joke. Even that didn’t settle the groans echoing throughout the ballroom.

Later in the show, Gervais introduced Bruce Willis as Ashton Kutcher’s dad. Come on, that one is just dated.

Introducing presenter Robert Downey Jr., Gervais went through a list of the actor’s films and added, “But many of you in this room probably know him best from such facilities as the Betty Ford Clinic and Los Angeles County Jail.”

Downey Jr., felt compelled to dig back at Ricky on behalf of his fellow celebrities.

“Aside from the fact that it’s been hugely mean-spirited with mildly sinister undertones, I’d say the vibe of the show has been pretty good so far, wouldn’t you?” Downey Jr. sniped back.

[From Popeater]

Popeater’s Jo Piazza concludes that Gervais “didn’t play to the room” and “went after soft targets with some hard jokes.” The crowd was really responding to him, so I don’t agree with that conclusion. I love it that he didn’t kiss ass, and the fact that he was willing to go after so many people made the show much more interesting. We’ll get more than enough brown nosing during the rest of Awards season, and like Gervais mocking Crystal Harris, we’ll look at our watches and wonder when it will end.

Here’s the Hulu version of Ricky’s opening monologue. (Only works if you’re in the US)

And here’s a YouTube version for people outside the US [via Huffpo]

I find those Focker films fun but forgettable. Does anyone think that Dustin Hoffman’s performance in the last film, Meet the Fockers, was pivotal? Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Blythe Danner and Teri Polo were in the first film, Meet the Parents, with Hoffman and Barbra Streisand added as Stiller’s character’s parents for the second. Streisand and Hoffman were excellent but I doubt that the third installment, Little Fockers , will fill less seats with either of them missing. Producer and star Robert De Niro believes that Hoffman’s character is necessary, though, and signed off on a whopping $7.5 million salary to ensure that his friend would reprise his role for the third film. That’s incredible.

Dustin Hoffman will earn a staggering $7.5 million to reprise his “Meet the Fockers” role – for just five days of work!

The 73-year-old Hollywood legend was ready to turn his back on the long-awaited sequel, “Little Fockers,” but co-star Robert De Niro – whose company Tribeca Films produced the movie – dug deep into his pockets to give Dustin, who plays Bernie Focker, a deal that will pay him an incredible $1.5 million a day.

Dustin was not included in the original filming because he demanded such a high fee, but after the movie wrapped, studio execs – and notably co-star Ben Stiller – weren’t happy that Dustin had been left out.

In late August, the source says, it was decided that having the superstar in the project was more important than saving a few million dollars, and Dustin was brought in to shoot for five days.

De Niro, who co-founded Tribeca in 1989, personally approved the massive payout.

“Even though he and Dustin have been friends for many years, it was not an easy decision,” added the source. “That’s a lot of money, and there were a lot of people who thought the movie was just fine without Dustin.”

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, October 11, 2010]

It’s a hell of a lot of money, but maybe they think Hoffman is worth it. The last film, Meet the Fockers, earned a whopping $517 million worldwide while the first movie in the series, Meet the Parents, took in $330 million. You can see why they would want to invest in the stars again for the third film, as outrageous as $7.5 million sounds for five days work. Barbra Streisand is coming back too, and she can’t have been cheap. Little Fockers is out in the US on December 22, right in time for Christmas, and it’s sure to earn bank at the box office.

Zac Efron has a new interview in the London Times and it’s pretty unremarkable apart from the end. The journalist went back into the restaurant bathroom after finishing the interview and saw Efron getting all fan boy with Robert DeNiro. The 22 year-old told DeNiro all wide-eyed that he loved his work and DeNiro rolled his eyes and looked at the journalist like “who the hell is this kid?” I wonder if he was finished doing his business yet or if Efron accosted him at the urinal.

There’s also an interesting revelation from Efron where he says he’s embarrassed for claiming Leonardo DiCaprio told him “if you really want to screw things up, do heroin.” Efron seems to have been joking and he sort-of admits that DiCaprio never said that. I had to re-read that passage a couple times though as it’s worded ambiguously. I can’t tell if Efron is admitting he made up that quote from DiCaprio, or if he’s saying that he shouldn’t have repeated it out of context:

On not wanting to be typecast as a heart throb
“I’m rewatching Leo’s transition, from my perspective,” Efron says. “He is the best barometer for me. It’s amazing to see actors who have been able to sustain this for so long and keep positive, still focused on the work, still trying to make their best film.”

On Leonardo DiCaprio telling him not to do heroin – he was joking
He admits he’s still completely star-struck, although he cringes when he remembers meeting Leonardo DiCaprio. He later told a journalist DiCaprio had told him: “There’s only one way you can mess this all up. Just do heroin.”

“Oh my God, I can’t believe I just did that to him,” Efron recalls feeling when he read the story. “It was a joke, it was meant completely in sarcasm, but it came across so differently in print. I was devastated. I tried to call Leo and say, ‘Dude, I’m so sorry, that’s not at all what I meant to say.’ It was the worst feeling in the world.”

When he meets Robert DeNiro in the bathroom
After Efron and I have said goodbye, I wander out to my car, but double back to use the loo. To my surprise, Efron is in there, gesticulating towards an older man who looks incongruous in a tweed shooting cap, thick glasses and a long brown raincoat. The older man seems taken aback by the attention. “I just love your work,” I hear Efron gushing. The older man, who looks vaguely familiar, mumbles a thank-you, raising an eyebrow to me as he leaves. He seems to have no idea he’s just been accosted by one of the most famous young stars in the world.

“Oh God,” Efron says after the man walks out. “I can’t believe I just did that. He must think I’m so ridiculous. Did you see who that was? Oh my God.”

I rattle my brain. Why, I realise, that was Robert De Niro. Zac Efron and I have just met Robert De Niro in the gents

[From Times Online]

Efron really isn’t the brightest bulb and he doesn’t seem able to play it cool with Hollywood bigwigs. He’s making up quotes from Leonardo DiCaprio and accosting Robert DeNiro in the men’s room. The kid is really trying to shake his heartthrob image, but there’s something so goofy about him. JayBird covered an interview with him last week in which he said his silliest moment was pranking his school friends with a mannequin hand. When he retold the story though it was like he still thought it was funny and clever.

He’s only 22, and he has time to mature. He keeps talking about how he’s trying to work toward a career with longevity. It could work out for him, but I doubt he’s cut out to be Scorsese’s muse like his idol. The article reminds us that Efron turned down $10 million to star in the Footloose remake, which he explains by saying “I felt it was something I had done before.” We’ll see how he feels in five years.

Efron is promoting his his role in Me and Orson Welles, also starring Claire Danes. It’s out now in limited release in the US and will be out in the UK on December 4.

Robert DeNiro is a notoriously difficult man to interview. He got the reputation through years of giving grunts and shrugs to reporters, for refusing to divulge or participate in even the most basic of publicity tours. But in the past few years, it seems like DeNiro has softened. He’s been trying more comedies, working with a wide range of actors and directors, and he’s basically become a hell of a lot sweeter, at least in my mind. It could totally be that DeNiro was always a kitten, and he just wanted to give off the impression of a tough guy. Something loosened him – and it’s nice to see.

He’s out promoting Everybody’s Fine, a family dramedy about “a widower who reconnects with his grown children“ costarring Drew Barrymore, Kate Beckinsale and Sam Rockwell. He gave a surprisingly sweet (and lengthy) interview to Parade Magazine this week (complete interview here), and there are some really lovely moments. Here are the highlights:

DeNiro on becoming a star: “I think it’s important to have had at least a few years of obscurity, where people treat you like everybody else. Then it goes crazy, and all of a sudden people behave differently toward you, they’re agreeing with you all the time, they’re not telling you no.”

Why he did Everybody‘s Fine: “I like Kirk Jones, the director. I think everything he does will be special. Good directors can bring certain things out of you, with their intensity or gentleness or sensitivity or understanding. They can make an actor feel he can do no wrong.”

DeNiro on what his youngest children—twins Aaron and Julian, 14, and Elliot, 11— think of his success and fame: He smiles his famous impish smile. “My kids aren’t too impressed with me,” he says. “They don’t say very much about my career. Sometimes they Google me, though. And who knows what their friends say?”

De Niro on growing up in New York City in the 1940s, 50s and 60s with his painter parents: “It was an exciting time to grow up. Kind of bohemian. Things were happening. There were big changes. I wasn’t really a part of it, though. I was more on the outside. But by virtue of being an actor, I was a good observer of it.”

On always knowing he would be an actor: “I didn’t have a Plan B. I never quite got to the point of needing one. I did one thing, then the next. I was able to sustain myself. I had some regular life behind me. It anchored me, going into the future.”

On his acting process: “In acting, I always try to go back to what would actually be the real situation, the real human behavior in life. It’s the most difficult thing and the easiest thing, and it’s all you need—the truth of the moment. If you give too much, if you telegraph things, you weaken it. You have to trust yourself not to do more.”

On Los Angeles, and why he prefers New York: “We had a house there, my first wife and our oldest kids. But I never really lived in it much. I like to visit L.A., but I wouldn’t want to live there.” His first wife was the actress and singer Diahnne Abbott. She brought her daughter, Drena, to the relationship, and he and Abbott also have a son together, Raphael. Both kids now live in New York. It’s a New York family and always was. “My father’s side was working-class, lower middle-class,” De Niro says. “My mother’s side didn’t have much money. They were kind of academic. My grandfather was a working man. He worked for the health department.”

On giving advice: “I don’t mind giving advice. I’ve had more experience, just by virtue of being alive longer, so I don’t mind doing that—if people ask. I don’t want to be preachy.”

On his costars: “Drew Barrymore was terrific to work with. I knew her mother a little, when Drew was a little kid. Kate Beckinsale was terrific, too, and Sam Rockwell. The crew, too. It was like an extended family, especially because we were on location. Everyone cared about everyone else, everyone tried their best, everyone felt it was a special endeavor. The director made it feel very sincere.”

[From Parade]

See? Doesn’t he seem like a sweetheart? I wish he was my special friend. I don’t mean that in a sexual way, although I’ve seen him in more than a few movies where he seemed very sexy to me (mmm… Heat). I just want DeNiro to talk to me and give me advice, maybe I could cook for him, and we could take a walk or something. Just a special friendship.

In other DeNiro news, he received the Stanley Kubrick award for excellence in film at the Bafta/LA Britannia awards last night. Once again, he startled reporters by being nice and by declaring himself “happy” to be receiving the award (I swear, the BBC actually reported it that way). He also chatted with reporters about the film he’s working on right now, Little Fockers, the third film in the Meet the Fockers franchise. DeNiro said: “I don’t know if I can say it’s the best one, that’s for the audience to decide – but we’re having fun. Is it the greatest movie ever? I hope so, we’re having fun doing it.” So cute. I love him.

Here’sRobert De Niro with Drew Barrymore at the AFI’s screening of ‘Everbody’s Fine’ in Los Angeles on November 3rd. Images thanks to WENN.com .

Acting legend Robert DeNiro has a reputation for being difficult to work with – now, his child’s nanny says he’s just as difficult to work FOR. Alexis Barry claims that the actor and his wife owe her $40,000 in unpaid wages for 750 hours of overtime, and 10 vacation days that she was never allowed to take.

A nanny who was fired by Robert De Niro has sued the actor for more than $40,000 in overtime pay.

Alexis Barry says in court papers that she was never paid for more than 750 hours of overtime and never took 10 vacation days. She began working for De Niro and his wife, Grace Hightower, in August 2006, and says she was fired 10 months later -after she said she was going to quit. The couple have an 11-year-old son.

Barry says she is owed more than $40,000. She filed a lawsuit Friday in Manhattan’s state Supreme Court.

De Niro spokesman Stan Rosenfield says he can’t comment because he hasn’t seen the lawsuit.

[From Huffington Post]

I guess celebrities have the same trouble finding child care as the rest of us, even with all their money and privilege. But if this woman’s claim is accurate, 750 hours of overtime in 10 months is a lot, especially if there’s only one kid to care for– just what kind of schedule was this woman working, anyway? Did Bobby ever actually take care of his own kid? It sounds like things got ugly for everyone. This trend of firing the nanny before she can quit seems to be all the rage these days.

Here’s Robert DeNiro at the premiere of the movie “What Just Happened.” Credits: PRPhotos.

Please do not read this article if you haven’t seen the Oscar-nominated film The Departed. This movie is so good that I screamed while watching it on a plane over the holidays, waking up the guy in the seat in front of me. Even if you don’t intend on seeing it, believe me you will find it worth your while.

Martin Scorsese has semi-confirmed the news that there’s going to be a sequel to the film The Departed, making filmgoers scratch their head and wonder how he’s going to pull it off. Just about all of the lead characters meet violent ends in the film, which help it pack such a cinematic punch.

Screenwriter William Monahan, who wrote the first Departed screenplay, is said to be working on the follow up, which will include Mark Wahlberg’s Oscar nominated potty-mouthed character, Sergeant Dignam, as well as bring in a new character played by Robert DeNiro.

At least one article I read said they haven’t ruled out a prequel, which means more tortured Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio eye candy. Indeed, the film it was based on, 2002 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs, had its own prequel successor.

I would like to see a bonafide sequel, though, because the end left me wondering who fathered Madolyn’s baby and if she had anything to do with clueing Wahlberg into Damon’s role as the mole. (I said there were spoilers, sorry about that. Let me know if I missed something in the plot that would explain how Wahlberg found out. I was really tired when I watched it.)

The Departed is a critical and commercial success, having pulled in $125 million in the US, and received five Oscar nominations. It is considered the front runner for best picture at the Oscars.

Here are some pictures from the film, courtesy of All Movie Photo.