De Niro's girlfriend Tiffany Chen gave brith to their daughter in April
Robert De Niro is getting candid about caring for his infant daughter as an 80-year-old man. The renowned actor, who welcomed daughter Gia with girlfriend Tiffany Chen in April, says becoming a new father again is "going OK," admitting that "it doesn't get easier."
"It is what it is. It’s OK. I mean, I don’t do the heavy lifting," he revealed to The Guardian shortly after Gia was born.
"I’m there, I support my girlfriend. But she does the work. And we have help, which is so important."
Robert De Niro, 80, says his girlfriend Tiffany Chen does all the "heavy lifting" when it comes to raising their daughter Gia. (Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)
In a separate interview given just months after Gia was born, Chen revealed that she had been diagnosed with Bell's palsy. "I started to feel like, my tongue felt strange. It felt like a little tingly, just starting to get a little bit numb, and then I realized my face – my face just felt weird. I didn't know what the feeling was that I was having," she explained during her interview with Gayle King on "CBS Mornings."
Chen, who is a martial arts instructor and kickboxer, shared that a rudimentary task became difficult for her. "I was trying to eat, I went to put just a fork of food in my mouth, and everything came out. I couldn't eat, and then I was starting to slur. So I said, 'There's something really going on here.'"
Taken straight to the hospital and admitted as a patient, Chen shared, "I lost all facial function the minute I got into the hospital."
Tiffany Chen spoke in detail about the impact Bell's palsy had on her body following the birth of her daughter Gia. (Gail Schulman/CBS)
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De Niro and Chen originally met on the set of his 2015 film "The Intern," however the actor was married to his second wife, Grace Hightower, at the time.
De Niro has six other children – daughter Drena, 52, and son Raphael, 46, with his first wife Diahnne Abbott; twin sons Julian and Aaron, 27 with ex Toukie Smith; and Elliot, 24, and Helen Grace, 11, with Hightower.
Robert De Niro and his girlfriend Tiffany Chen made their red carpet debut at Cannes in May. (Stephane Cardinale - Corbis)
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De Niro says his parenting style is distinctly different with each child. "With a baby it’s different to my 11-year-old. My adult children. My grandchildren. It’s all different."
De Niro's grandson, Leandro, unfortunately made headlines this past summer after he passed away from an accidental overdose.
Robert De Niro's grandson Leandro died of an accidental overdose on July 2. (Drena De Niro Instagram/Getty Images)
"I don’t talk to the adult children the way I talk to my baby… or the way I speak to my 11-year-old, though she’s pretty smart," De Niro continued.
"You never know what’s going to happen," he noted. "They surprise you."
A representative for De Niro did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Caroline Thayer is an entertainment writer for Fox News Digital. Follow Caroline Thayer on Twitter at @carolinejthayer. Story tips can be sent to
