Michelle Pfeiffer was thrilled to actually get the chance to act opposite Robert De Niro in new film The Family after appearing in two movies with the actor and never meeting him on set.

The actress admits she was crestfallen when she realised she wouldn't be working with one of her acting heroes when she signed up for Stardust and New Year's Eve, and the two Hollywood veterans only got the chance to speak to each other at the premieres.

So, when she learned the two of them were being lined up for another movie, she made sure that this time they would be working together before signing on.

She says, "They say the third time is the charm. It took three movies to actually be onscreen with him but it finally happened. I didn't know what to expect really. We had only met on the red carpet.

"But he was just delightful in every sense of the word. I was just so relieved to see how generous he was with all of us as actors and giving, open. It was just great. Our only regret was we didn't have more scenes together!"