Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese have become one of the most famous actor-director collaborations in Hollywood. The duo has collaborated 11 times in their career. However, there was almost a 12th as De Niro wanted Scorsese to direct Analyze This.
Why Did Robert De Niro Want Martin Scorsese to Direct Analyze This?
While promoting their latest film, Killers of the Flower Moon, De Niro and Scorsese spoke to Deadline about their working relationship, which famously started with 1973’s Mean Streets. After joining forces for 1995’s Casino, De Niro and Scorsese went their separate ways but always made it a point to stay in touch. De Niro asked Scorsese to direct the mafia comedy Analyze This. However, Scorsese turned it down because it was too similar to one of their earlier collaborations.
“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,'” Scorsese explained.
These check-ins between filmmaker and actor continued in the 2000s. Scorsese brought Gangs of New York and The Departed to De Niro, both of which he denied. However, De Niro and Scorsese found another crime film to reunite for, which became The Irishman. Scorsese credits De Niro’s similar background as to why their collaboration has lasted for 50 years.
“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,” Scorsese said. “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.’
Now, that was a certain period of time,” Scorsese continued. “Does he still think that way, 10 years later? Turns out he did! But is he the old Bob? No. You’ve got to see where they are.”
De Niro and Scorsese can next be seen in Killers of the Flower Moon, which premieres at the Cannes Film Festival on May 20 before releasing in theaters on October 20.
