Anne Hathaway: De Niro serves the best snacks

Anne Hathaway says working with Robert De Niro is great, because he always brings sandwiches.

The thespians star opposite each other in upcoming comedy The Intern, in which the 72-year-old actor plays a senior citizen who takes on a work placement at a fashion company where Anne is boss.

It may seem an unlikely duo, but the pair got along famously while shooting.

"I think you'd be a fool as an actor to work with Bob and not just observe what he does, his magic, and his talent. But I know what I'm going to strive to for the rest of my career, is the level of grace that Bob has on set, the way he takes care of the crew, the way he treats everyone," Anne gushed to Empire magazine. "We'd have a long, hard day and suddenly there'd be the greatest mozzarella sandwich sandwiches in the world right there. He's a thoughtful, respectful man and I really admire him."

It wasn't just Anne who learned something new from the project: Robert admits he was "amazed" by the 32-year-old's performance and her professional work ethic.

Anne herself has dabbled in interning, getting stuck in ahead of her role as aspiring journalist Andy in 2006's The Devil Wears Prada.

"When I did my character research for The Devil Wears Prada, I interned at [auction house] Christie's for two weeks. It was great. I got to see beautiful art and talk to interesting people," she recalled. "And they let me reorganise their library, which made my nerd self very happy."

Robert has been in the industry for so long that the younger generation look up to him as a screen icon. It's a role he takes just as seriously as his acting.

"Yeah, I like to give advice to younger actors. I like young people. I get a kick out of them," he smiled.