Nine-year-old Lily Sheen - Beckinsale's daughter with ex-boyfriend Michael Sheen - landed a role playing the younger version of her mother's character in forthcoming release Everybody's Fine.

But the youngster - in only her third movie part - was completely undaunted by the prospect of lining up with De Niro, the star of the film.

Beckinsale Sr tells Us Weekly, "Robert De Niro's asked if she could audition. We get to the set and I'm scared, but Lily's bummed he's not someone famous like SpongeBob SquarePants or George Clooney. She's not intimidated."