“I had one goal: To have s*x with him”: Aubrey Plaza Freaked Out Robert De Niro While Filming ‘Dirty Grandpa’ With Her Insane Method Acting

Aubrey Plaza, of Parks and Recreation fame, gave Robert De Niro quite a scare when they were co-actors in the 2016 s*x comedy Dirty Grandpa. While De Niro is quite the acting legend himself, Plaza went full-on method for her quirky role as Lenore in the flick.

The 38-year-old actress recently shared anecdotes from her working experience with the Academy Award winner, post the screening of her latest project Emily the Criminal at the London Film Festival.

Aubrey Plaza “freaked out” Robert De Niro

The Ingrid Goes West actress talked to Variety about how working with The Irishman actor still gives her embarrassing flashbacks.

“At first I think I came on really strong. I did some questionable things I wouldn’t do anymore. I didn’t really have a relationship with him off-camera because he’s him. I didn’t have time to get to know him. He shows up in a puff of smoke, and there’s no chatting at the water cooler. By the time he’d show up, I’m in character. My character had one goal: To have s*x with him. I was acting totally insane as the character because we were about to shoot. I don’t think he understood that wasn’t me. You’d think he would because he’s an actor and an amazing one.”

Well, maybe De Niro could’ve appreciated the professionalism had he gotten a heads-up first…

Also Read: Best Robert De Niro Films Directed By Martin Scorsese

When Robert De Niro couldn’t recognize Aubrey Plaza

Plaza went on to narrate how she learned from one of her agents who had “heard Bob’s a little freaked out” by her. As the project went forward and was in the stage of its later production, the Taxi Driver actor hosted a luncheon for his co-workers, the cast, and the crew of the film. However, he failed to recognize Plaza when she wasn’t method-acting. She recalled, “I showed up, and he’s like, ‘Who are you sweetheart?’ and after that he was normal.”

After all, a heads-up would have been nice!

Also Read: 10 Certainty That Might Manifest Aubrey Plaza Is April Ludgate IRL

Combating typecasting hands-on

Earlier this year, The To Do List actress was in conversation with IndieWire, when she talked about her fight against typecasting, and especially how the audition process for Dirty Grandpa was instrumental in inspiring her for the same.

“The part they wanted me to audition for was the other [female] part, which was probably more in line with who I should have been. But I was like, ‘No, I want to audition for the blond-haired, big-bre*sted promiscuous person that wants to have s*x with an old man,’ or whatever the description was. But it was definitely on the page like, ‘No, you would never…’ And I got that part because I was like, ‘OK, I’m going to do my own twist on this.’”

Plaza shared that instead of feeling jailed by typecasting, she felt motivated to surprise everyone with her acting caliber and prove her range as a performer.

“It gave me motivation to prove myself. I think, for a while, I did feel like, ‘Aw man, I’m being put in a box, and I don’t like it, so I’m going to fight to get out of that and show people what I can do,’ or something. But then I started to look at it as a gift. If I convince people so well that I was that one thing and then I do something that’s totally different, it will be that much more satisfying to surprise them. So I started to try to think of it like that and be a little bit more positive and less bitter about it.”

The Little Hours actress also claimed that she does not let genres decide her performance.

“I actually don’t feel like I’ve done a comedy in a while. I don’t really approach them any different. To me, if it’s a comedy or a drama, I have the same process that I go through, and the audience can decide if it’s funny or not.”

It is quite clear that Aubrey Plaza has quite a hands-on approach when it comes to tackling a varying range of roles. However, even the thought of method acting must come with a touch of embarrassment for her.

Dirty Grandpa is currently streaming on HBO Max.

Also Read: 5 Best Aubrey Plaza Interviews That Show Why She’ll Always Be Our Weirdo Queen

Source: IndieWire