Robert De Niro: Leonardo DiCaprio has taken my place

Robert De Niro said that Leonardo DiCaprio has replaced him in director Martin Scorsese's films. DeNiro praised the 39-year old DiCaprio for his acting skills.

“Leonardo DiCaprio is a very seriousyoung actor, he takes it quite seriously. I knew he had somethingwhen I saw him read. So even though Leonardo DiCaprio has taken myplace in Marty’s movies, I’m apparently the go-to guy in handingout the hardware,” De Niro said in a statement.

DiCaprio starred in five from sixScorsese's films made this millennium like “ Gangs of New York,”“ The Aviator” and “ The Departed.” The “ Titanic” star alsoworked with De Niro early in his career in “ This Boy's Life.”

De Niro added that at his age he'sgotten pretty good at giving out awards but “out of practiceaccepting an award myself,” he said.

We 're going to see both of the starsthis year. De Niro in his stars stuffed comedy, “ Last Vegas,” andDiCaprio in Scorsese's new feature “ The Wolf of Wall Street.”