Robert De Niro Gives Outstanding Advice During NYU Commencement Speech: ''You're F--ked," but That's OK!

Oscar winner tells it like it is to the Tisch School of the Arts' Class of 2015

By Natalie Finn May 23, 2015 1:28 AMTags
Robert De NiroNYU

Hey, Robert De Niro just wanted to make sure that these kids were prepared for the mean streets out there!

The two-time Academy Award winner and high school dropout gave one of the more memorable commencement speeches delivered by a celebrity this year, imparting his sage wisdom with a smile on Friday to the graduating class of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.

"You discovered a talent, developed an ambition and recognized your passion," De Niro addressed the masses assembled at Madison Square Garden for the ceremony. "When you feel that, you can't fight it—you just go with it. When it comes to the arts, passion should always trump common sense. You aren't just following dreams, you're reaching for your destiny."

"You're an artist—yeah, you're f--ked," he informed the kids. "The good news is, that's not a bad place to start."

And De Niro had some very simple advice for the aspiring actors, musicians, writers, artists, et al.

"Now that you've made your choice—or, rather, succumbed to it—your path is clear," he continued. "Not easy, but clear. You have to keep working, it's that simple. You got through Tisch, that's a big deal. Or, to put it another way, you got through Tisch? Big deal!

"A new door is opening for you—a door to a lifetime of rejection. It's inevitable. How do you cope? I hear that Valium and Vicodin work!"

But "you don't want to block the pain too much. Without the pain, what would we talk about?"

And surely the NYU School of Medicine probably graduated a number of aspiring psychiatrists, too!

"Rejection might sting, but my feeling is that often, it has very little to do with you," De Niro continued. "When you're auditioning or pitching, the director or producer or investor may have someone different in mind, that's just how it is. That happened recently when I was auditioning for the role of Martin Luther King in Selma. Which was too bad because I could've played the hell out of that part—I felt it was written for me! But the director had something different in mind, and she was right. It seems the director is always right."

De Niro does do comedies too, remember? And he speaks from experience.

AKM-GSI

"You're not responsible for the entire job, but your part in it," he added. "You will put your everything into everything you do. You won't judge the characters you play, and you shouldn't be distracted by judgments on the works you're in. Whether you're working for Federico Fellini or Martin Scorsese, your commitment and your process will be the same."

"Did you get straight A's in school?" he inquired rhetorically. "If you did, good for you, congratulations. But in the real world, you'll never get straight A's again."