Mumbai, May 23 (IANS) Veteran Hollywood star Robert De Niro has revealed that comedy was never part of his original career plans before starring in the “Meet the Parents franchise”.
During a candid chat with Jimmy Fallon, the veteran actor opened up about unexpectedly becoming a fan-favourite in comic roles while discussing the upcoming fourth installment of the Meet the Parents franchise, Focker and Law.
A video of the chat was shared on the Instagram page of The Tonight Show, with the caption: “Robert De Niro never expected to do comedy before starring in the Meet the Parents franchise! @fockerinlaw #FallonTonight”.
Fallon was heard saying: “A few weeks ago, your trailer for Focker and Law came out. Congratulations. This is what I’m talking about. This is your fourth. This is the fourth movie in the Meet the Parents franchise. It comes out Thanksgiving. It’s you, Ben Stiller, Ariana Grande. What can we say about this one?
De Niro praised the script and the cast members.
The veteran actor said, “Well, it was a terrific script. John Hamburg wrote it and was involved and wrote the other Focker movies, Meet the Parents. He directed it, did a great job, and it’s very funny.”
To which Fallon replied: “Ariana’s funny.”
De Niro described Grande as “great”.
Fallon then asked De Niro: “Did you ever think you were going to do comedy when you acted in your career?”
The actor said: “No, I didn’t know.”
“You didn’t have a plan?” asked a shocked Fallon.
To which the actor replied: “No. No”
“Meet the Parents” is a 2000 American romantic comedy film written by Jim Herzfeld and John Hamburg and directed by Jay Roach. It stars Ben Stiller as Greg Focker, a nurse who visits his girlfriend Pam’s parents, overprotective Jack and pacifistic Dina, and suffers from a series of unfortunate events.
The film is a remake of the 1992 film Meet the Parents, directed by and starring Greg Glienna, who also wrote the screenplay alongside Mary Ruth Clarke. The film was followed by the sequels Meet the Fockers and Little Fockers. A fourth film in the franchise titled Focker-in-Law is in production and set for release in Thanksgiving 2026.
–IANS
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