Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino, two of cinema’s most revered actors, recently found themselves in unexpected parenting roles at 79 and 83, respectively.
Only a few weeks after DeNiro announced that he had become a father once again, news has broken that Al Pacino now finds himself navigating parental duties with his much younger girlfriend, Noor Alfallah, who has just filed for full custody of the baby.
Alfallah, 29, filed a petition in Los Angeles on Wednesday to determine the parental relationship between Pacino, herself, and the baby. The documents requested for sharing legal custody with Pacino but full physical custody for Alfallah, as well as “reasonable visitation” rights for the actor and for him to cover her legal fees and court costs.
It appears that Pacino was surprised to find himself the father of an infant, given a medical condition that typically causes infertility. A source told Page Six that Alfallah “mostly dates very rich older men.”
Pacino and DeNiro are iconic actors who have worked together on classic films such as “Heat” and “The Godfather Part II.” Gaining fatherhood at such a ripe age has inspired both of them to reflect on what it means to be a responsible parent and the joys of being a part of their children’s lives.
Pacino described the experience to the New Yorker in 2014, “I’m responsible to them. I’m a part of their life. When I’m not, it isn’t very pleasant to me and to them. So that’s part of the gestalt. And I get a lot from it. It takes you out of yourself.”
It is a somewhat unique situation to be a father in your 80s, a fact that DeNiro and Pacino seem to have humbly accepted and embraced. Although they are now significantly older than most new parents, they demonstrate that age should not necessarily be viewed as an obstacle to parenting if the circumstances are right.
It has undoubtedly been a bumpy road for both DeNiro and Pacino, but the final destination appears to be a happy one.