The one thing Martin Scorsese “does not allow” actors to do in his movies: “Hates it”
As if anyone needed any proof that the number of Academy Awards a filmmaker has is remotely relative to their status, standing, and impact on cinema history, look no further than the fact that Martin Scorsese only has one to his name, despite directing a handful of the greatest movies ever made.
To put that into context, one of the industry’s most legendary auteurs has the same number of Oscars as Three 6 Mafia, which is ridiculous. Obviously, that takes nothing away from a remarkable career that’s still going strong, more than 60 years since it began, but it does illustrate that Oscars aren’t the be-all and end-all in staking anyone’s claim for being an all-time great.
Beyond the string of classics, which ranges from Raging Bull and Taxi Driver to Goodfellas and Mean Streets via The Wolf of Wall Street and The King of Comedy, which is nowhere near all of them, Scorsese will always be remembered as one of the best directors of actors there’s ever been, becoming synonymous with overseeing top-tier performances from his cast.
Robert De Niro won an Oscar and earned four more nominations from his Scorsese collaborations, Leonardo DiCaprio has two nods for their shared efforts, and that’s without mentioning Ellen Burstyn’s victorious turn in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Cate Blanchett in The Aviator, Goodfellas‘ Joe Pesci, and The Color of Money‘s Paul Newman.
He’s also helmed Oscar-nominated turns from Diane Ladd, Jonah Hill, Lorraine Bracco, Juliette Lewis, Jodie Foster, Cathy Moriarty, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Winona Ryder, Daniel Day-Lewis, Alan Alda, Lily Gladstone, and even Mark fucking Wahlberg, so it’s an understatement to say that the filmmaker knows how to bring the best out of his performers.
With that in mind, if Scorsese makes it abundantly clear that he hates his actors doing one thing during a performance, then everyone will pay attention. Admittedly, there’s a heavy dose of irony about it, but his trusted lieutenant, the inimitable editor, Thelma Schoonmaker, still dished the dirt to the BBC.
According to his most trusted collaborator, who’s cut every single one of his films since Raging Bull, Scorsese “hates it when an actor uses eyebrows to emphasise something.” Putting an even finer point on it, she was unequivocal in outing it as his biggest pet peeve: “He does not allow eyebrow movement.”
Of course, the director has a pair of the most distinctive and animated eyebrows in the business, so it’s pretty funny that a man who carries an individual Groucho Marx moustache above each one of his eyeballs can’t stand it when somebody in one of his movies tries to weaponise them for dramatic effect.
Scorsese’s have almost gained sentience, and at times appear to be operating independently from the rest of his face, but heaven forbid an actor tries to arch, raise, or furrow them to try and improve a scene. It’s got to be one of the most ironic no-go areas in the business, but if he demands his thespians keep their brows in one place, then you can be sure they won’t be going anywhere.
