Robert De Niro Defends His Mafia Roles

[Lord_of_the_Dense]

VENICE, Italy - Robert De Niro dismissed accusations that his Mafia roles have smeared the image of Italian-Americans, arguing that he plays realistic characters including many who could not be construed as stereotypes.

De Niro's defense Friday came after the Order Sons of Italy in America, a fraternal organization of Americans of Italian heritage, wrote a letter to the Italian government, urging it to cancel its plan to award the actor honorary citizenship. The government rejected that request, and is expected to confer the honor next month.

"The characters that I played are real ? they are real. So they have as much right to be portrayed as any other characters," De Niro said, during promotion Friday of the animated feature "Shark Tale."

Read entire story here.

[cjules13]

...and plus, he's done way more non-mob roles now - he's just remembered for his best work! And just because a guy is cast that way doesn't mean anything disrespectful towards Italians...

[jipper]

that article is bullshit.

we all know that all italian americans are like joey out of friends.

[Lord_of_the_Dense]

Speaking of which...

Estimated 18.6 Million Watch 'Joey' Debut

NEW YORK - Based on its series premiere, Joey Tribbiani is missing a few viewers along with his "Friends." An estimated 18.6 million people watched the first episode of "Joey" Thursday, the spinoff of "Friends" that NBC was counting on to keep its Thursday night lineup strong, according to Nielsen Media Research.

That's lower than any original episode of Matt LeBlanc's old series drew last season, including the 24.5 million people who saw the season debut.

NBC notes that "Joey" gathered the largest audience among the advertiser-friendly 18-to-49-year-old age group of any other entertainment show since May. It was also the best-rated 8 p.m. comedy premiere for NBC in 14 years.

Read entire story here.

[Shawn]

I can't claim I was a fan of Friends, but how many would have been watching to see that doofus?

[slum_goddess]

that article is bullshit.

we all know that all italian americans are like joey out of friends.

and i'm tony fucking soprano.