Robert De Niro, a ‘pussycat?’

DE NIRO. Still active at 70. RUBEN V. NEPALES

LOS ANGELES—Robert De Niro, a “pussycat?” He is known as one of the greatest actors of all time, among other things—but, a “pussycat?” That was how Michael Douglas, Robert’s costar in the wonderful comedy, “Last Vegas,” described the esteemed thespian.

Here was what Michael said: “Bobby is a pussycat, a sweetheart… He’s very family-oriented, and you really feel the Italian in him.”

“That’s OK,” Robert replied, breaking into his trademark lopsided grin, when he was asked about his new tag. “Maybe Michael had a perception of me in a certain way, then he realized . . . We didn’t know each other very well. But, we got to know each other because of the movie.”

We were, believe it or not, inside a wedding chapel at  the Aria Hotel in Las Vegas. No one was getting married—but, in the movie that folks like to say is “The Hangover” with senior citizens, Michael’s character is the last bachelor among friends since childhood (Robert, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Kline) who decides to tie the knot in Las Vegas.

The film, directed by Jon Turteltaub, is entertaining and does not go overboard in the protagonists’ shenanigans, with good performances by the leads, including Mary Steenburgen. But, there are also surprises, like when a poolside bikini contest deejay-host suddenly takes off his pants and grinds his crotch right on Robert’s face! The award-winning actor took all of that in stride.

About the de rigueur bachelor party scene in “Last Vegas,” has Robert attended such a bash? “I’ve never been to a bachelor party,” he answered. “I was never invited to one.”

Of his three equally respected costars, Robert said, “We don’t hang out, but we’ve known one another over the years. Kevin and I did something for charity once, and that’s it. But, we had a good time. We all like each other.”

Nothing left to prove

“We’re a lot older now,” Robert added. “It’s not that we couldn’t have done stuff when we were younger—it’s just that everybody’s got nothing left to prove. They’re wonderful, terrific people—my peers. We had an easy time. Jon’s not quite close to our age, but he also gets it—so, he makes it easy.”

At 70, Robert declared, “I don’t think of myself as the age that I am. I’m very active.”

One of the film’s themes is honesty among friends—it impacts the relationship of the four longtime friends. Asked if he finds it challenging to be candid with his friends in this day and age, the actor said, “It’s difficult. It depends. Sometimes, I can be very frank about things, sometimes I just keep quiet, because it isn’t worth it.”

“I’m a pretty forgiving person,” he stressed. “I let things go. But, I’m capable of letting people know how I feel.”

The Oscar and Golden Globe winner said that Las Vegas, where he also shot 1995’s “Casino” (one of his many movies with Martin Scorsese), has changed drastically. “When we were shooting ‘Casino,’ there weren’t many really good restaurants,” he noted. “Now, it has completely changed! In some ways, it’s more family-oriented, with all these types of shows.” He declared that he’s not a gambler.

“That’s good,” Robert said of the frequent collaboration between Martin and his current muse, Leonardo DiCaprio. “Leo has great respect and love for Marty. They work well together. It’s a good relationship. Maybe we’ll do something together—the three of us. That would be terrific.”

No mixed feelings that Martin makes more movies these days with Leonardo instead of him? “No, that’s normal,” he emphasized. “That’s as it should be. I can’t play the parts that Leo plays.”

In one of his coming films, “Grudge Match,” a comedy directed by Peter Segal, Robert and Sylvester Stallone play aging boxing rivals, Billy “The Kid” McDonnen and Henry “Razor” Sharp, respectively, who fight again, three decades since their last match. He agreed that it’s virtually a nod to their popular boxer characters, Jake LaMotta (in “Raging Bull,” one of his iconic roles) versus Sylvester’s Rocky—except, this time, it’s not a drama.

“That’s the undertone,” he explained. “It’s about these old fighters. They had two matches. Each won a fight. A third one was never done. My character wants Stallone’s character to do this final fight, even after all these years!”

On younger generations of moviegoers who categorize Robert as a comedian since he has appeared in a number of comedies in recent years, Robert grinned and replied, “That’s OK. I see a lot of young people. You mention names of famous directors or actors, they don’t have a clue.”

He said that a lot of things make him laugh. “Sometimes, you can be in movies that you think will bring a lot of laughs. But, doing certain scenes that might be more grim or macabre will make you laugh more, because you want to ease the tension—say, in ‘Taxi Driver,’ when we did the hallway scene.”

“God, there have been many terrific comedians over the years—Robin Williams, Billy Crystal…Bill Murray is terrific,” Robert remarked when asked who among the funnymen he admires.

While Robert said that that nobody encouraged him to be an actor, he’s grateful for the chance to work with Elia Kazan in 1976’s “The Last Tycoon.” “When I worked with Kazan, I must say, everything I heard about him was true. He was a great director. I was lucky to have that experience with him.”

A director himself, whose credits include “The Good Shepherd” and “A Bronx Tale,” Robert said of returning to the director’s chair, “I’m not sure. I’d love to, but it takes a lot of time and commitment…There are some things on the horizon, but not enough for me to be able to talk about.”

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