Robert De Niro Breaks Down in Tears After Amy Poehler's Emotional Praise: 'I Can’t Believe I Made You Cry'

Robert De Niro became emotional during a heartfelt conversation with Amy Poehler.

“I just personally want to thank you for doing what you do and speaking out in the way that you do about where we are in the world,” Poehler told De Niro.

The emotional moment came during the September 15 episode of "Good Hang with Amy Poehler," when the host paused the jokes to thank the 83-year-old actor for speaking up despite his age, status and influence.

She pointed out that people who are asked to “speak truth to power” are often those who have less influence, including “people of color” and “women.”

The 54-year-old then compared the actor’s willingness to speak out.

“To see a person like yourself, the age that you are and the status that you are—the best way I can describe it is, it’s like if someone’s giving a terrible speech at a wedding and they’re ruining the wedding, and the wedding is America, and there’s another adult who says, like, ‘We don’t talk like that. That’s not how you’re supposed to treat people. This is insane,’” she said.

“It makes everybody feel very safe, and I’ve seen you do it over and over again, and I really appreciate it," she added.

The praise appeared to hit De Niro hard, as the Goodfellas star began tearing up.

“It’s so upsetting to see what’s happening in this country, and it’s so crazy,” he said as he wiped away his tears.

Poehler quickly realized what was happening.

“This is going to be a real switcheroo because I can’t believe I just made you cry,” she joked.

“I feel incredible right now. Hold on. We got to get you your tissues. We got Good Hang tissues for you, Bob,” she added.

When the comedian asked what he would say to people who feel hopeless, De Niro had a simple message: “You have to fight.”

“You have to fight because if you don’t fight, you’re not going to get anything,” he continued, adding, “You have to fight. You have to join people.”

The Taxi Driver actor also emphasized the importance of having courage and standing together, telling Poehler that “courage is contagious.”

The emotional exchange came toward the end of a wide-ranging conversation that also touched on De Niro’s childhood, his friendship with Martin Scorsese, Saturday Night Live and some of his most memorable movie roles.

At the start of the episode, Poehler joked that the two-time Oscar winner doesn’t particularly enjoy interviews.

“I have to say I know you don’t love interviews. Thank you for doing this,” she teased.

He simply replied, “Oh, God. But I’m fine.”