Robert De Niro to New College Grads: 'You're f*cked!'

Robert De Niro definitely seems like the tough-love kind of guy... and he proved it with his teasing message to the 2015 graduating class of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.

As their commencement speaker, the "Goodfellas" actor informed them, "You made it, and you're f*cked."

De Niro went on to explain, "The graduates from the College of Nursing, they all have jobs. The proud graduates of the NY School of Law, they're covered. And if not, who cares? They're lawyers."

According to De Niro, the graduates from other programs used "reason, logic, and common sense" to lock down careers and lifestyles that would offer them a stable and secure future.

However, although "f*cked" they may be, De Niro applauded the Tisch graduates for pursuing their passion despite the odds.

"When you feel that you can't fight it, you just go for it. When it comes to the arts, passion should always trump common sense... Yeah, you're f*cked. The good news is, that's not a bad place to start.

"On this day of triumphantly graduating a new door is opening for you. A door to a lifetime of rejection. You can't be too relaxed for what we do. And you can't block out the pain too much. Without the pain, what would we talk about?"

But it's not all doom and gloom. De Niro went on to advise student to be open to collaborating with other artists as they continue on their journeys. He also made sure to tell future actors to be open to compromising with directors if they are clashing over their views on a character.

"There should always be space to try it both ways," he reminds them.