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Robert De Niro stunned as Debra Messing reveals Meet the Parents audition
21 March 2025, 08:00 | Updated: 21 March 2025, 15:59
Robert De Niro was shocked to find out Debra Messing actually auditioned for his iconic movie Meet the Parents.
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Robert De Niro and Debra Messing joined the Capital Breakfast Show on Friday morning to talk about their new thriller The Alto Knights, directed by Barry Levinson in which De Niro plays both parts of the lead roles, telling the story of Vito Genovese and Frank Costello, who run two separate crime families.
During their chat, they reminisced on some of De Niro’s greatest films including Meet the Parents, where he plays impossible-to-impress father-in-law Jack, and its sequel Meet the Fockers, and Messing shocked the room when she confessed she auditioned for the part of Pamela, Greg [Ben Stiller’s] girlfriend, which went on to be played by Teri Polo.
She told De Niro: “What you don’t know is the very first reading with [director] Jay Roach of Meet The Parents, I read Teri Polo’s part.”
"Did we read, or was it with Jay?" De Niro quizzed. “It was with Jay,” she confirmed as De Niro looked at her in disbelief.
Adding why she didn’t go on to fulfil the role, she said: “And I was like, ‘I’m not very blonde I don’t think this is gonna work.’ I would’ve been better as Ben Stiller’s sister.”
De Niro replied: “Yeah I didn’t know that.”
Throughout the rest of the chat the stars spoke about Messing’s much-loved sitcom Will & Grace, the kids’ TV shows De Niro’s toddler watches and their love for dogs after two of the Hollywood icon’s dogs starred in The Alto Knights.
De Niro, who has 18 dogs, said the dogs are actually his girlfriend’s: “She really takes care of them more than I do, I don’t even remember all their names sometimes.”
“There’s a scene in the script where I take the dog for a walk and somehow my girlfriend Tiffany said, ‘Well what about these dogs?’ and Barry [Levinson] was happy with that, he was fine with it.”
Watch the full interview with Robert De Niro and Debra Messing on Global Player now.
Robert De Niro’s personal connection to ‘The Alto Knights’ and a ‘Meet the Parents’ exclusive!
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