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The First Lady’s Young Barack Obama Is Robert De Niro’s Son Julian
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The third episode of Showtime’s The First Lady, which aired on May 2, went back in time to explore the early days of its three first ladies: Eleanor Roosevelt, Betty Ford and Michelle Obama. The show dramatised Michelle’s first meetings with her eventual husband, Barack Obama. O-T Fagbenle plays the older version of the 44th president, but the young adult version of Obama is played by Julian de Niro, one of Robert De Niro’s sons.
De Niro isn’t the first young actor to play Obama at this point in his life. The 2016 movie Southside With You also portrayed the Obamas during the years when they’d first met. In that movie, P-Valley star Parker Sawyers played the future president.
Julian keeps his life pretty private; his Instagram only has two posts from 2021, and he rarely attends events with his famous parents. Here’s everything we know about Julian and his role in The First Lady.
WireImage / Gabe Ginsberg
Julian De Niro's Dad Is Robert De Niro
Julian is following in his dad Robert De Niro’s footsteps by getting into acting. Robert, for his part, is pretty private about his six kids and rarely talks about them. In 2019, he told Us Weekly, “I love my children, just being with them. It’s not easy. Sometimes it’s fun and you love your kids, and sometimes you want to kill them! Then, when you have the good moments, you forget about the ones that weren’t good.”
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Julian's Mom Is Toukie Smith
Julian’s mom is also an icon. Toukie Smith not only worked as a model for brands like Chanel, Versace and Thierry Mugler, but she also acted on the NBC sitcom 227.
WireImage / Emma McIntyre
Julian De Niro Is a Twin
Julian and his twin brother, Aaron, were born in 1995. They have four other siblings from their father’s other relationships. Julian’s two older siblings, Raphael and Drena, have also worked as actors in the past.
Getty Images / Jon Kopaloff
The First Lady Is Julian De Niro's First Major Role
The First Lady is Julian’s first major role. Julian has one other credit, 2016’s In Dubious Battle, which adapted the John Steinbeck novel of the same name and was directed by James Franco.
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Julian De Niro Went to NYU
Julian majored in computer science at NYU. In 2018, he coauthored a piece for The Washington Post about research into what people on Twitter said they desired.
