Robert De Niro: I've Been Replaced by Leonardo DiCaprio

Get the hilarious scoop on the Raging Bull's acceptance speech at last night's Hollywood Film Awards

By Marc Malkin Oct 24, 2012 12:50 AMTags
Robert De Niro, Leonardo Dicaprio Michael Caulfield via Getty Images

Robert De Niro may be one of the greatest actors of all time, but he isn't exactly feeling the love these days.

While he was honored last night at the Hollywood Film Awards with the Supporting Actor Award for his work in The Silver Linings Playbook, Mr. De Niro kvetched that he's usually the one handing out the accolades, not the guy receiving them.

Really?

"What mostly gets me here is to present awards to other people," De Niro said to the crowd packed into the ballroom at the Beverly Hilton hotel. "I've handed out Oscars to Sean Penn, Eli Wallach [and] Francis Coppola. I've honored Meryl Streep at the Kennedy Center. I've handed out about a half dozen lifetime achievement awards to Marty Scorsese, from the BAFTA to the Golden Globes.

"So even though [Leonardo] DiCaprio has taken my place in Marty's movies, I'm apparently the go-to guy in handing out the hardware," De Niro said as the room roared with laughter.

He continued on.

"I've gotten pretty good at giving out awards but frankly I've gotten out of practice accepting an award myself," De Niro said. "It's been awhile except for getting that medal from the Irish American League when they couldn't get Liam Neeson."

And then he congratulated his Silver Linings costar Bradley Cooper for picking up the night's Best Actor Award.

"I'm surprised I'm not presenting it to him," De Niro smiled.

Of costar Jennifer Lawrence, he smiled again, "I know that soon I will be presenting her awards, too. It's what I do."