Aubrey Plaza Creeped Out Robert De Niro While Filming 'Dirty Grandpa'

Actress Aubrey Plaza has interesting experiences on the set of her movies, such as when she "freaked out" film icon Robert De Niro while filming their movie "Dirty Grandpa." The actress played De Niro's love interest, a woman obsessed with having sex with him because he's a college professor.

During a panel discussion at the recent London Film Festival, Plaza shared that she never got to interact with De Niro before filming, which meant he only ever interacted with her when she was already in character. She explained that this caused him to mistake her character's personality for her real personality.

Thankfully, Plaza and De Niro eventually mended their relationship and became friends a few months into filming. The actress has previously shared a story of the time the film's director tried to get her to suck his nipples, which was a very awkward experience.

Read on to find out more.

Plaza recently gave a keynote "screen talk" at the London Film Festival, during which she shared the story of her awkward interactions with De Niro. The actress revealed that her agent once called her during filming for "Dirty Grandpa" and said De Niro was "freaked out" by her behavior.

Plaza said per Deadline, "I auditioned to get that part. I really wanted that part. I created the character for myself, and I wanted to make the most of it. I'm working with De Niro. I'm playing his love interest. Nothing's going to stop me. But I didn't get time with him."

She explained that the actor never lingered on set and always showed up "like a puff of smoke when he's shooting." Plaza also said that once De Niro showed up, it was "time to shoot," so she never got to spend time with him as her real self.

Plaza explained she always stayed in character on set, so she was usually "all over" the film icon in order to build their on-screen chemistry. However, the "Parks and Recreation" star admitted that De Niro mistook her character's performance for her real personality.

She said, "My character had one goal, which is to have sex with him. That was my motivation. And I'm wearing a wig in the film. I was acting totally insane like the character because we were about to shoot. I stayed in character because that's what I do. I don't think he understood that that wasn't me."

Plaza continued, "You'd think he would because he's an actor and a great actor." She also spoke about how ridiculous most of their scenes together were, saying that they were mostly of them "making out and saying dirty stuff to each other."

During her talk, Plaza also shared that she eventually mended her off-screen relationship with De Niro. The "Ingrid Goes West" actress said that a few months into filming, De Niro invited the cast and crew of "Dirty Grandpa" to his home for a group lunch.

Plaza explained that when she got there, the "Taxi Driver" actor didn't even recognize her when she got to his home. However, when she re-introduced herself, they quickly became friends. Plaza said, "After that he loved me. We really got along. And I think it clicked for him at that point."

https://youtu.be/zJpFop9UhVs?t=128

Plaza has previously shared a story of how she made De Niro uncomfortable on the set of "Dirty Grandpa." The "Parks and Recreation" actress had an interview on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" in 2016 and shared the story of how the film's director, Dan Mazer, asked her to suck on De Niro's nipples.

She said, "I'd try to get in there and suck on his nipples, and he was like batting me away, and I didn't know if it was in character or not. And then they cut the camera and [the director] called me back and was like, 'Bob does not like his nipple area paid attention to.' I was like, 'Great, now he thinks that I wanted to do that.'"