Robert De Niro is returning to the Graham Norton sofa just weeks after the host made a candid admission about what it’s like to interview the two-time Oscar winner.
Earlier this month, De Niro came up in the conversation when the Irish presenter paid a visit to the US talk show Late Night With Seth Meyers.
As the two hosts bonded over their past interviews with A-list actors, Seth asked Graham about how often he has to “jump in and help” when a famous guest is struggling with a story.
“I remember, Robert De Niro, he’s a lovely man, but he’s not that chatty,” Graham responded.
“He’s been on an enormous amount of times, and I’ve discovered that he’s a benign presence. It’s not like he’s having a horrible time – he’s having a nice time! – he just doesn’t like to talk very much.”
The Bafta winner continued: “He was on our show, it must have been the fourth time he was on, and he was having such a nice time that he started to tell an anecdote! And we were like, ‘oh my god, Robert De Niro is telling an anecdote’.
“Well… it soon became clear why he doesn’t.”
Graham then admitted that the story in question wound up on the cutting room floor, with even De Niro himself apparently questioning “why am I telling this?” in the moment.
On Wednesday morning, it was revealed that the Killers Of The Flower Moon star will be returning to The Graham Norton Show next month, to discuss his new political thriller Zero Day, which will mark his first major foray into television.
He’ll be joined on the 7 February episode by Oscar favourite Mikey Madison, comedian Alan Carr and TV personality Holly Willoughby, who will be discussing her own Netflix project, the reality competition show Celebrity Bear Hunt.
Sir Elton John and Brandi Carlile will also be delivering a special performance in the studio.
Last year, Graham spoke about his experiences of having De Niro on the sofa in a separate interview, claiming: “I never blame a guest if they’re not good, because it’s no one’s job to be a chat show guest. But some of them… you know, it’s a struggle.
“Someone like Robert De Niro, he’s a lovely, benign presence on the show. But you know, he’s not chat show gold, let’s say.”
In the months since, Graham has also opened up about another famous guest who notably made for a “very poor” interview on the red sofa, and another whose emotional story wound up on the cutting room floor.