In 1962, when I was three years old, Bobby’s Girl by Susan Maugham was a number one hit. Every time it came on the radio, my mum would dance around the kitchen. And I’ve always been‘Bobby’s girl’, Robert De Niro that is. From the moment I saw him as the young Vito Corleone in Godfather II when I was 16, that was it.
Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, The Deer Hunter, I’ve seen them all. Even now in his less hardman phase I adore in him in the Meet the Parents trilogy or as Dirty Grandpa. But, despite a long career as a showbiz journalist, I'd never met him. In fact, when I first met my husband I would take him to showbiz events. He would always say: “This is all very nice, but if you could just get Robert De Niro”.
So when the company, An Experience With, who arrange private black tie events with leading actors, asked me whether I wanted to interview him for the events they were running in Leeds and Birmingham, my cup runneth over.
I had previously interviewed Al Pacino for the same company. “Call me Al,”turned out to be warm and charming. De Niro, however, is another plate of chopped liver. He is not known for his friendly interviewee style. Indeed, he doesn’t like interviews, has been known to walk out of them and once nearly came to blows with the late film critic Barry Norman. This was the pinnacle of my career, the day I'd dreamed of. I felt sick.
