Robert De Niro ‘my days as a leading actor are gone’

[dropcap]R[/dropcap]OBERT De Niro is certain his time as a leading actor is over, but is happy to play supporting roles so he can keep working.
De Niro credits the baby-boomer generation, those born in the affluent period following the Second World War, with keeping him in work as older movie fans continue to visit cinemas.
The GoodFellas star appears alongside fellow screen veterans Morgan Freeman and Michael Douglas in new comedy Last Vegas, about a group of elderly friends visiting Sin City, and the 70 year old admits it is rare to land such a big role at his age.
He tells Britain’s Metro newspaper, “That’s just life. We can’t play certain parts any more. We’re playing the father or the grandfather or the great-grandfather and that can be written in a funny way, so it’s fine. But you’re not carrying the movie as the young romantic lead – those days are gone”.
De Niro credits the baby-boomer generation, those born in the affluent period following the Second World War, with keeping him in work as older movie fans continue to visit cinemas. He adds, “I don’t go to see enough films. But I’m told that since baby-boomers will still actually go to see a movie in a theatre – because it’s a communal experience that our generation is used to – there’s now a trend towards making some movies that those people could possibly identify themselves in”.