Robert De Niro insists it's "fine" when people relay his most famous quotes back to him in the street.

The iconic actor is famed for his role as Travis Bickle in the 1976 movie Taxi Driver. Robert delivers a catchphrase that is widely used in popular culture, but doesn't mind when people approach him and repeat the lines.

"Yes. That's happened a few times," he admitted when asked if people ever quote his lines back to him in the street. "The one I usually get is, 'Are you talking to me?' It's fine, it's fine."

Robert, 68, has recalled his first attempt at acting. The Oscar-winning star has laughed off his naivety at the time.

"I played the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz when I was ten," he smiled. "Oh, God... that's a long time ago. It was nice. It was fun. It was not, as a ten-year-old, what acting is when you get older.

"It's a totally different thing."

Despite his love of all things thespian, Robert added that he can't quote any lines of poetry.