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He began acting in off-Broadway plays and made three movies, The Wedding Party, Greetings and Hi Mom! for Brian De Palma.
"I had the leads in those films, yet I was still collecting unemployment cheques. It was only after Godfather II that I stopped lining up at unemployment," says De Niro.
In the 25 years since Godfather II, De Niro has become one of the elder statesmen of his profession. He doesn't like to be reminded he is considered an icon, but at least he no longer denies it's his reputation.
"I was always just acting. I consider it luck that I have got to this privileged position in the industry."
De Niro is currently starring as a brooding sociopath in Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown and will be seen as a Washington spin-doctor in Barry Levinson's scathing political satire Wag the Dog, which opens Friday.
"Quentin has a high, nutty kind of energy, but he's a genuine film buff so his enthusiasm is genuine. He knows film, so it's easy for an actor to connect with him."
De Niro says it has taken him two decades to get to work with Dustin Hoffman, his co-star in Wag the Dog.
"We've talked about working together for years, but we could never find a suitable project or we just weren't able to juggle our schedules."
De Niro has a 21-year-old son Raphael by his first wife Diahnne Abbott, and 29-month-old twin sons by his long-time former girlfriend Toukie Smith. He was married last summer to 42-year-old former flight attendant Grace Hightower and has over the years dated Whitney Houston, Uma Thurman and model Naomi Campbell.
"Unfortunately, my private life has been made public, but it is still off limits as far as I am concerned," says De Niro. "I will not comment on it."