Award-winning actor Robert De Niro shares his memories of his father Robert De Niro Sr. in a new documentary from HBO that reveals the relationship between father and son. De Niro also looks at the little-known fact that his artist father was gay and how this matter affected his life.

Over the years, actor Robert De Niro has diligently archived the works of his painter father as well as the New York City studio and home of the senior De Niro. The Oscar winner weaves an intimate portrait of his dad in the HBO documentary Remembering the Artist: Robert De Niro, Sr. De Niro discussed his father and the film with OUT magazine in an interview that covered both the artist’s legacy and his sexuality.

In the film, De Niro reads passages from his father’s journal that disclose how the elder De Niro came to the realization that he was gay, an event that led to the end of his marriage to the actor’s mother. “We were not the type of father and son who played baseball together, as you can surmise. But we had a connection,” stated De Niro. “I wasn’t with him a lot, because my mother and he were separated and divorced. As I say in the documentary, I looked after him in certain ways.”

Even though his father was not always a major presence in his life, De Niro looks back on him with fondness. “He was absent in some ways,” explained the actor. “He was very loving. He adored me … as I do my kids.”

In addition to the relationship between father and son, the documentary shows how the senior De Niro’s talent was too often overlooked in the era of the pop art movement. De Niro told OUT, “To me, he was always a great artist.”

Remembering the Artist: Robert De Niro, Sr. premieres June 9 on HBO.