Today is Robert De Niro's last day of work in Philadelphia on the thriller The Dark Fields, and he'll be holed up on a soundstage. Yesterday brought him and co-star Bradley Cooper to the old AAA headquarters at 21st and Market Streets, where they shot exteriors and drove female fans a-twitter all afternoon.
The two men, who play rivals, have become chummy, if Tuesday's dinner at Cuba Libre in Old City was any indication. De Niro and co-owner Barry Gutin have a mutual friend in Chazz Palminteri, who sent De Niro and Cooper there. (Palminteri, who's been to all tres Cuba Libres, picked up the tab.) Cooper did not drink -- no wine, no something-something in his mojito.
The two shared a tasting menu of Ecuadorean shrimp ceviche and fire-and-ice tuna ceviche; mariquitas; black bean hummus; guacamole; albondigas; chicken empanadas; maduros; pompano; sugarcane-skewered shrimp; New York strip; and -- just as they hit "full" -- coconut rum cake with lime sorbet and Coca-Cola sauce.
My source says their table talk included who was good to work with and their favorite vacation spots -- though my source would not divulge specifics. From what my source could tell, it may have been the first time the two of them had an extended talk. De Niro was overheard inquiring about Cooper's lady friend, Renée Zellweger.
The Dark Fields will be around till May 28. I hear that an exterior scene to be shot Monday will be the last time Cooper and company will be out and about actually working, as the rest will be done on soundstages.