I’ve no idea what my epitaph will be, but I am very curious to see what my obituary says, Hollywood veteran actor Robert De Niro said in an interview. “I met someone once at a dinner who wrote obituaries for the New York Times and they told me the main people they have written obituaries for in advance – and that I was one of them. Apparently it’s all ready to go and they just fill it in with last minute”. The 75-year-old actor discusses perfectionist acting, his father the artist, internet opportunities and not doing social media. I am a perfectionist. “I always try to do as much research as possible for a role. For Taxi Driver I did actually drive a cab for a few weeks. It probably wasn’t really necessary, but it was something I wanted to do.” Sometimes the physical can portray the psychological. That’s why I put on 60lb when I played Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull. I had this fascination with the graphic deterioration of his character, which to me was symbolised by his physical decline. I didn’t think using prosthetics would do the same thing. I understand why people use social media, but I don’t. No way! I don’t watch much TV or go to the movies either. To me, they’re just another distraction. And I have enough of those to worry about without all that stuff as well. Fame is not an issue for me these days. When I was younger, I found the attention difficult to deal with, but I’m mostly OK with it now. I go around quite freely and people may say “hello” or want a photo and that’s fine by me. Published in Daily Times, November 12th 2018.