*Robert De Niro opened up on Wednesday’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” about being the father to six biracial kids.
The actor, 76, spoke about race and his family while making a virtual appearance on the late night talker.
“My children are all half black and I don’t have, even me, I take certain things for granted,” De Niro said, referring to his privilege as a white man. “When people say that they tell their kids, ‘Keep your hands [out] when you’re stopped by any cops, keep your hands on the steering wheel, don’t make a sudden move, don’t put your hands below, don’t do this,’ you understand that.”
He added, “That’s scary. That has to change.
As noted by Page Six, De Niro shares daughter Drena, 48, and son Raphael, 44, with his ex-wife, Diahnne Abbott. He also has sons Julian, 24, and Aaron, 24, with his ex, Toukie Smith, and son Elliot, 22, and daughter Helen, 8, with his ex-wife, Grace Hightower.
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De Niro spoke to PEOPLE earlier this year about whether his children feel pressured to follow in his entertainment career.
“For my kids, I tell them, ‘If you want to be an actor or you want to do this or that, that’s fine as long as you’re happy,” he said at the time. “Just don’t sell yourself short. That’s the most I would say — push yourself a little more and reach for what you really think it is you want to do. Don’t be afraid.”
De Niro added, “It’s important for them to find their own lane.”
Meanwhile, when it comes to the current conversation about excessive use of force on people of color by police, the Hollywood legend told Fallon that while not all cops are rotten to the core, “Anybody who hurts another person for no reason other than self defense or the defense of other people around shouldn’t be doing that job.”
Scroll up and watch De Niro’s full conversation with Jimmy Fallon via the YouTube clip above.
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