Robert De Niro was surprised by the scale of the #MeToo scandal.
The 75-year-old actor found it "disturbing" that sex had allegedly been used as a bargaining tool for actors and actresses to land parts and he thinks he was "naive" to have not realised it happened frequently.
![Robert De Niro and Bruno Kirby perform a scene in The Godfather Part II directed by Francis Ford Coppola in 1974 in New York, New York. Photo / Getty](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/7OSNZ2MQMWCKHDBZ4PSPT5QHLQ.jpg?auth=7ad7704fe6bac7095b7289ea30697d6a18369c2d47e5f8aed33182d3fdfce623&width=16&height=12&quality=70&smart=true)
He said: "Maybe I'm naïve. It made me aware how prevalent it was. You hear about the casting couch, but I found it hard to believe people would behave so badly to get laid.
"It's disturbing to me. When a casting person or a producer infers something could happen – if you sleep with me, I'll get you to this person – that is beyond unacceptable. Actors are very sensitive about actors. When they want a part, and if you intimate you are going to give them a part, they believe you, and if they want that part, you have to be very careful."