The two iconic Martin Scorsese movies Robert De Niro turned down
Emerging in the early-1970s, Martin Scorsese attained prominence with his cinematic debut, Mean Streets, released in 1973. The movie set Scorsese on a highly successful trajectory, propelled by an enduring kinship with Robert De Niro. The trademark blend of gritty realism and a raw portrayal of urban existence, as exemplified in Mean Streets, reached new heights in 1976 with the unveiling of Scorsese’s magnum opus, Taxi Driver.
As the decade neared its conclusion, Scorsese, much like De Niro, was sculpting an immovable legacy. In 1980, the dynamic actor-director duo embarked on a new project, Raging Bull, developed from a script initially suggested by De Niro. Although the sports drama genre wasn’t Scorsese’s typical domain, he undertook the project with reservation. Fortuitously, the risk proved fruitful, as the movie garnered both critical acclaim and commercial success. The movie secured a remarkable eight Oscar nominations, two of which were won.
In 1982, Scorsese and De Niro’s flame faltered somewhat after the underwhelming reception of The King of Comedy. It would be seven years before the pair reunited, collaborating on the gangster masterpiece Goodfellas. In 1988, De Niro offered his services for the lead role in Scorsese’s historical drama The Last Temptation of Christ, but the director saw Willem Dafoe as a more suitable candidate.
“Out of respect for everyone, including Bob, we did have a conversation, but I knew that was not his kind of role,” Scorsese revealed in a 2020 conversation with Deadline. “He did tell me, listen, if you have trouble getting it made, I’ll do it for you.”
After 1991’s Cape Fear and 1995’s Casino, the Scorsese-De Niro partnership was put on ice again for another decade. Although the pair remained close over this period, none of Scorsese’s projects seemed to appeal to De Niro.
“So, with Bob, after Casino, we stopped for a while, and I did Kundun and Bringing Out the Dead. And then Gangs of New York,” Scorsese remembered in a 2023 interview with Deadline. “We always checked in on that and everything else. He wanted me to do Analyze This, and I said, ‘We already did it. It was Goodfellas‘.”
Adding: “I talked to him about other projects, and at one point, he said, ‘You know the kind of stuff I like to do with you.’ I said, ‘OK.’ That became The Irishman, and it took nine years. We were always looking. ‘What about The Departed?’ ‘Nah, I don’t wanna do that.’ ‘OK.'”
Later in the conversation, Scorsese recalled how he had also offered De Niro a role in his 2002 drama starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Leonardo DiCaprio, Gangs of New York. “Literally, he said, ‘What are you doing?’ ‘I’m doing this. You interested?’ ‘Nah.’ ‘OK.’ We always talked about that kind of thing because he is the only one around who knows where I came from and who I am, from that period of time when we were 15 or 16 years old”.
Concluding: “He knows that part of New York. It was all instinct between us and his courage and his humility, in terms of how he’ll say, ‘If a scene plays on my back, fine, but if it plays better on the other person’s face, play that.'”
Watch the trailer for Gangs of New York below.
