Passion Should Always Trump Common Sense, Robert De Niro Tells Arts Graduates

In his lifetime, American actor Robert De Niro has appeared in over 90 films, including the iconic mob film The Godfather II where he played the young Vito Corleone and subsequently won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Naturally, the actor is someone that a lot of youngsters look up to, including the graduating students of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts program. It was De Niro who offered them a congratulatory graduating speech, and at first, his words were more of a downer rather than an encouragement.

He told the students that they have made it, but they are screwed. "Think about that," he said. "The graduates from the college of nursing, they all have jobs. The graduates from the college of dentistry, fully employed."

The 71-year-old actor said that those students all used reason, logic, and common sense when selecting their careers, but the same cannot be said for those who pursued the arts.

"But when it comes to the arts, passion should always trump common sense," De Niro said. "The good news is, that's not a bad place to start."

De Niro is a prime example of a person who pursued passion over common sense. When he was just 16, he dropped out of school in order to pursue a career in acting. He studied this at the Stella Adler Conservatory and the Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio, and at the age of 20, he began what would eventually become a lucrative career in acting.

His first film was Brian De Palma's 1963 film The Wedding Party, which was soon followed by Roger Corman's Bloody Mama (1970). He hit it big with his role as a dying major league baseball player in the 1973 flick Bang the Drum Slowly and as a small-time criminal Johnny Boy in Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets.

De Niro's career propelled when he took on the role of Vito Corleone in The Godfather II. He initially wanted to be in the original Francis Ford Coppola, and auditioned as Sonny Corleone, Michael Corleone, Carlo Rizzi, and Paulie Gatto. However, he was unsuccessful in his first attempt.

After that, he appeared in a multitude of films including Taxi Driver, New York New York, Raging Bull, The King of Comedy,Goodfellas, Cape Fear, Casino, and Guilt By Suspicion. At one time, he even lent his voice in the animated film Shark Tale by DreamWorks Animation.