Danny DeVito's Oldest Daughter Lucy Went to High School with 'Cute Senior' Chris Pine: 'I Heard All the Stories' (Exclusive)

Danny DeVito costars with Chris Pine in the actor's directorial debut, 'Poolman'

Danny DeVito is revealing a fascinating connection between him and his Poolman costar, Chris Pine!

At the movie's Los Angeles premiere on April 24, DeVito, 79, shared with PEOPLE that he has known Pine, 43, since the actor-turned-director was in high school. As it turns out, Pine went to high school in the San Fernando Valley during the same time as DeVito's oldest daughter Lucy DeVito.

"Well, he went to Oakwood, which is a school where my kids went in the San Fernando Valley. So he was two or three years older than my oldest, Lucy," DeVito says, when asked about how far back he goes with Pine.

"And then there was Gracie and then there was Jake," he continues, referring to his and wife Rhea Perlman's younger two children. "So Chris was a senior when she and her girlfriends were all thinking about this cute senior that was in school."

"Yeah, I heard all the stories," he jokes of Pine's high school days. "But yeah, so we've known each other for a really long time and I'm really happy and proud of him for what he did with Poolman. It's a movie that's unique and, I think, a lot of fun."

Related: Danny DeVito’s 3 Kids: All About Lucy, Gracie and Jake

After two decades of acting in Hollywood, Pine is making his feature directorial debut with Poolman, which he also co-wrote with Ian Gotler. For DeVito, working with a director who has experience acting for the camera has its benefits.

"You have to be thinking about working with the DP, with the designers, everything like that. But you also have to communicate and it's good to know what an actor goes through as a director," he tells PEOPLE. "I always found that directors who were actors bring a little bit more to that understanding. And I like working with directors who did get what we're going through on that side of the camera."

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Pine himself tells PEOPLE on the red carpet that he came to try his hand behind the camera after growing up around those in the industry: his father, Robert Pine, starred on CHiPs in the late '70s and early '80s, and his mother, Gwynne Gilford, is also an actor.

Related: Chris Pine Searches for 'Love and Connection' in Trailer for Poolman, His Directorial Debut (Exclusive)

"I think I just got to a point in my career where I was bored and frustrated, and I've been doing a lot of the similar things and this really made me happy," he tells PEOPLE. "I just wanted to pursue what made me happy, and this is what came out."

Poolman debuts in theaters on May 10.

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