Robert De Niro Narrates His Life in Pictures, From Childhood to Hollywood and Fatherhood: Video (Exclusive)

Robert De Niro revisits special moments from his past and shares touching stories from the present.

Sitting down with PEOPLE, the 80-year-old two-time Oscar winner looks at photos taken throughout his life: his childhood in New York, his more memorable roles in films like Taxi driver and his recent Oscar nomination Killers of the Flower Moon and his time as a father of seven children.

De Niro, who was raised in downtown New York by painters Robert De Niro Sr. and Virginia Admiral (they divorced when he was young), says he had an “okay childhood.”

“I had good memories and others that, I suppose, he would have like everyone else. I’m glad I grew up in New York, I grew up in New York,” he continues.

Robert De Niro and his father, Robert De Niro Sr., in the 1940s.

Courtesy of HBO and Canal Productions

De Niro dropped out of high school to pursue success and study at prestigious institutions in Manhattan. In the 1960s, he worked in Off-Broadway productions and began his film career.

Robert De Niro on his iconic career, the ‘great joy’ of fatherhood and his future: ‘You have to be ready’ (exclusive)

After he acted in 1973 Evil streets — his first collaboration with Martin Scorsese — De Niro appeared as a young Vito Corleone in 1974. The Godfather Part II. He won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, but was not at the ceremony to receive the award.

De Niro was filming a wartime romance 1900 in Italy, and he found out about the victory through a phone call. “They used to call me on the landline in those days,” he says. “I was happy.”

Michael V. Gazzo and Robert De Niro in ‘The Godfather II.

Everett

He worked with Scorsese again on the 1976 film Taxi driver playing depressed Vietnam War veteran Travis Bickle. He and Scorsese decided to cut Bickle into a mohawk to suit the character, but there was one problem.

Robert De Niro on the cover of PEOPLE.

Michael Schwartz

“I wanted to shoot The last tycoon after, where I needed hair and wavy hair, like Irving Thalberg,” says De Niro, who got Dick Smith, a make-up artist from The Godfather Part II, create a mohawk hat. “He was a great makeup artist. We did a test and it looked good.”

The actor won his second Oscar for playing boxer Jake LaMotta Mad bull. De Niro gained 60 pounds for the role. “The weight was of course heavy after the first 15 pounds. It’s just a job,” he says.

Robert De Niro won the Oscar for best actor for the film ‘Raging Bull’.

ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

What did he eat? “Everything,” he continues. “And the doctor monitored it – cholesterol and things like that, but it was difficult.”

His on-screen wife Vikki was played by a then-unknown model named Cathy Moriarty.

“She was great for the role,” he says. “I think Joe Pesci told us he knew of a girl he would see in clubs or whatever. And so she came in and she was perfect.” (Indeed, Moriarty was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of a complex character.)

De Niro also talks about his life as a father to Dren, 56, and Raphael, 47 (with first wife Diahnne Abbott), twins Julian and Aaron, 28 (with ex-girlfriend Toukie Smith) and Elliot, 25, and Helen, 12 (with ex wife Grace Hightower), and 10-month-old Gia, who he shares with his girlfriend, martial arts instructor Tiffany Chen (45).

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Robert De Niro and daughter Gia last September.

Courtesy of Robert De Niro

He says of his youngest, whom he welcomed last April, “she is such an adorable baby. So sweet. [When I] look at her, everything else disappears. So it’s a great joy and relief just to be with her at this moment.”

Watch the video above to see De Niro talk about other moments, like the making Meet the parents with Ben Stiller and the founding of the Tribeca Film Festival.

Find out more about Robert De Niro in the new issue PEOPLE.

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Source: HIS Education