Though Meryl Streep is often asked which actresses she looks to for career inspiration, she says her biggest inspiration throughout her long, successful career has been Robert De Niro.

Speaking at the University of Texas’s Celebration of Film, an event spotlighting De Niro and his personal film archive, Streep gave a touching speech about her long friendship with the actor.

The actress, 73, said she’s strived to emulate De Niro’s career ever since the second time she saw the Mean Streets actor on the big screen.

“But, really, the second time I saw Robert De Niro, I said to myself, that’s the kind of actor I wanna be. That’s what I wanna do. And I wanna do it with the commitment and the passion and the skill and the beauty with which he applies to it. And he’s been my beacon for 50 years,” she said.

Streep and De Niro would go on to star in four films together, including The Deer Hunter and Marvin’s Room, and developed a close friendship over the years. Although Streep says she and De Niro don’t actually talk all that often, the Taxi Driver actor is ever-present in her life.

“…He’s a man whose presence in my life for 40 years has been a consoling constant. But I don’t see him very often. We don’t chat. But I know he is, without question, always there for me and he always will be,” she said. “He’s a man who lives by his loyalty to his ideals, to his country and to the people that he loves.”

De Niro Made an Impression on Streep from First Time She Saw Him

     Paramount Picture

Streep also recalled seeing De Niro on the big screen for the first time in 1973’s Bang the Drum Slowly. She had gone to see the film to support college friend Michael Moriarty, and while his performance was “great,” she had been far more impressed by De Niro.

“Michael was great but we all agreed that the kid they found in the South, non-actor, clearly non-actor, incredible performance. We thought they must have scoured Appalachia to find this guy,” she said.

But it didn’t take long for her to find out the extent of De Niro’s talent. Soon after, Streep saw Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets, and found a familiar face.

“…There’s the guy, there’s the same kid. And only he’s not slow. He’s not Southern. He’s a New York punk. He’s absolutely mean, this fast-talking street smart guy and we were blown away,” she said. “We scoured the credits and saw his name. I said, ‘Oh my God.’ He’s Italian. He’s Robert De Niro. He’s an actor. And it really blew me away.”