Sporting a well-groomed gray beard, Robert De Niro made his appearance on Wednesday's The Late Show home edition. The popular actor opened up about how he is keeping himself busy amid the lockdown, shared his thoughts on how the current administration is handling the coronavirus pandemic, and revealed who he would play in a pandemic-centric film, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Colbert said De Niro looked very distinguished as he greeted the globally acclaimed actor, who was sitting in front of a fireplace at his home. During the interview, the late-night show host asked De Niro how he is spending his time at home, to which the two time Academy Awards winner gave a summary.
He is reading scripts, working out, talking on the phone, and trying to stay alive. Speaking about his work out regime, De Niro said he is lifting weights to make sure bone mass remains strong and pairing it with a slew of other routine exercises including cardio, treadmill, and more.
Later in the interview, Colbert speculated that it is highly likely that a film based on the pandemic will be made one day, asking De Niro which real-life character he would like to play. Without wasting a lot of time, De Niro replied he'd like to play New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, adding that he is doing what a president should be doing.
Colbert asked if the actor felt Cuomo had a chance of becoming President. "Yes, I could see it," De Niro immediately replied. Noting that he is hoping Biden wins the imminent election, the Mean Streets actor said he wants everything to work out positively for the Democratic candidate, but Cuomo is doing a great job.
Touting the pandemic as a national tragedy, the actor expressed his disappointment in the Trump administration's attempts to control the coronavirus outbreak. Aside from that, he noted that people have survived pandemics in the past, and labeled Trump an imbecile who ignored the warnings of health officials and other experts in the initial stage of the outbreak.
De Niro described the whole situation as appalling, noting that its all about Trump getting re-elected. The actor questioned those surrounding Trump why aren't they taking necessary steps to make things better. He accused the president's enablers of not doing anything, and not standing up to him.
As part of the lighter side of the interview, Colbert and De Niro talked about the summer drive-in series that has been launched by Tribeca in collaboration with Imax and AT&T. "Drive-ins are my generation," De Niro said.