Celebrity News May 21, 2026
Robert De Niro Says 3-Year-Old Daughter Gia Likes Watching Him with Elmo (Exclusive)
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Tribeca Film Festival co-founders Jane Rosenthal & Robert De Niro are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the beloved festival.
“Extra’s Mona Kosar Abdi spoke with to Jane and Bob, who are longtime producing partners on movies like “Meet the Parents” and his upcoming “Focker-In-Law.”
Jane gushed, “How lucky am I to have Bob as a partner for so long, who gave me such opportunity in my career to, you know, we didn’t have this building when we started, we’re working on his kitchen table. All the different things that we’ve done over the years, it’s been the honor of my life."
Mona asked Jane about being part of convincing Bob to take “Meet the Parents.”
He recalled, “Jane had told me about the project and Jay Roach was directing it, and I met Jay... I said, 'Okay, I’m in.'”
Jane noted that Bob agreed to the project before reading the script. She recalled, laughing, that after they had a reading, Bob said, "I think we need a re-write."
The franchise is now coming out with a fourth movie, “Focker-In-Law” with Ariana Grande joining the fold.
Jane raved about Ariana, saying, “She’s an extraordinary actress and she’s got great comic timing and to see her with Bob and Ben [Stiller] is very special and she’s just wonderful.”
Robert’s character Jack is a lot easier on Ariana’s character than Ben’s Greg. Bob quipped, “He likes her… They have things in common.”
The two also discussed the importance of story-telling, in the form of movies, podcasts, music videos, and documentaries.
Jane emphasized, “Storytelling inspires new movie-goers and that anyone can pick up a camera and tell a good story or try to tell a good story. It does take work… Part of what we try to do at the festival is inspire people to create and to tell stories from their point of view and to gather audiences together.”
The festival is also celebrating the 50th anniversary of De Niro's iconic movie “Taxi Driver.”
When can his 3-year-old daughter Gia start watching his movies?
"I don't now what she'll watch first," De Niro said. "There's not much."
For now, Gia is too young for most of his movies, but he said she likes watching his work with with Elmo!
He shared, “My daughter Gia likes Elmo now, so we show her that a couple times, where I did a thing, a bit with Elmo."
"And Miss Piggy was at the festival," Jane noted. "We should show her that picture."
