De Niro at Tribeca as ‘Bronx Tale’ turns 30
NEW YORK − Robert De Niro is bringing the Bronx to the Upper West Side.
The two-time Oscar winner (and 79-year-old new dad) will close Tribeca Festival with a June 17 screening of “A Bronx Tale,” his 1993 coming-of-age crime drama. The event will take place at the historic Beacon Theatre, featuring a post-screening Q&A with De Niro, actor/writer Chazz Palminteri and producer Jane Rosenthal.
“I haven’t seen it for a long, long time,” he says of the movie.
USA TODAY sat down with De Niro and Rosenthal before Tribeca’s opening night to discuss this year’s lineup, as well as what’s next for the Hollywood legend.
Tribeca Festival 2023 includes Paul Mccartney, Sara Bareilles, more
Co-founded by De Niro and Rosenthal in 2002, Tribeca kicks off Wednesday with “Kiss the Future,” a new documentary about U2’s efforts to aid and inspire the war-torn Bosnian capital of Sarajevo in the 1990s. The 12-day festival includes Sara Bareilles’ “Waitress,” a filmed version of the Broadway musical, which will be simulcast in Times Square on June 12. There are also new music documentaries about Cyndi Lauper (“Let the Canary Sing”), French Montana (“For Khadija”), and Santana (“Carlos”), all of whom will perform.
“The Cyndi Lauper doc is really extraordinary,” says Rosenthal, noting other festival highlights including a Gloria Gaynor documentary (“I Will Survive”) and an onstage conversation between Paul Mccartney and Conan O’brien.
More than 90 feature films will make their world premieres, many of which include De Niro’s friends and former co-stars. Pam Grier (“Jackie Brown”) appears in new thriller “Cinnamon,” which pays homage to ‘70s blaxploitation movies. And Michael Shannon (”Amsterdam”) makes his directorial debut with “Eric Larue,” about the mom (Judy Greer) of a school shooter.
Robert De Niro helped Tina Fey land Sarah Palin gig on ‘SNL’
Tina Fey (“30 Rock”) is also coming to Tribeca with “Maggie Moore(s),” reuniting with Jon Hamm in the dark comedy directed by John Slattery (of “Mad Men” fame). Fey previously told Howard Stern that it was De Niro who suggested to “Saturday Night Live” head Lorne Michaels that she play former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin on the sketch show in 2008.
“I did,” De Niro confirms. “We lived in the same building at the time, and one day I said to him, ‘Lorne, Tina Fey. Boy, she’d be great as Sarah Palin.’ Whether that had anything to do with what eventually happened, I don’t know. But she was so great. She’s so funny.”
Fey, who left “SNL” in 2006, won an Emmy for outstanding guest actress for her inspired portrayal of Palin. If she were to return as host, Rosenthal says Fey should impersonate Republican 2024 presidential hopeful Nikki Haley. The former South Carolina governor has stirred controversy for her transphobic remarks and insistence that Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” laws don’t go “far enough.”
“Oh, yeah, she’d be a really good Nikki Haley,” De Niro says. “She’d do a good job with that.”