Leonardo DiCaprio has worked with a lot of astounding directors like Christopher Nolan, Sam Mendes and Quentin Tarantino. But a lot of DiCaprio’s best movies have arguably been helmed by Martin Scorsese, who he’s collaborated with since the 2002 crime flick Gangs of New York. You can actually thank Robert De Niro for being the man who introduced the longtime collaborators in the first place. Just recently, Scorsese opened up about his partnership with DiCaprio and how it’s evolved since they first crossed paths.
After 21 years, the Titanic star and Mean Streets helmer’s partnership is still going strong. The two — along with Robert De Niro — have made another movie in historical drama Killers of the Flower Moon. While speaking with Hindustan Times, the 80-year-old filmmaker talked about how he met his frequent leading man through his Raging Bull star, and it seems he and the former have forged a solid connection since:
Yeah, they did This Boy’s Life together. Bob told me I must work with this new kid. Turned out that Leo enjoyed the movies we made. I worked with Leo on Gangs of New York, then we pushed it further in The Aviator. On The Aviator, we learnt that there’s a 30-year age difference! But I found that we had a similar kind of sensibility that me and Bob had. We had a similar fearlessness, the will to try things, and ultimately, a very, very strong trust. We pushed each other to different limits. It’s a gift.
I imagine it meant a lot to Leonardo DiCaprio to have his This Boy’s Life co-star introduce him to Martin Scorsese, who would positively impact his career. Every time you see one of DiCaprio’s performances in a Scorsese film, you can’t help but acknowledge how great he is. With the combination of DiCaprio’s stellar acting and Scorsese’s outstanding direction, it’s no wonder these two have made successful movies together for over two decades. It seems that “very, very strong trust” they’ve developed has been invaluable for them.
Gangs of New York may have been a major showcase for Daniel Day Lewis, but it was also a great starting point for the aforementioned collaboration. As the Oscar-winning director has said, he likes to challenge his male lead to reach their full acting potential. That was definitely the case when the filmmaker and the Blood Diamond star teamed up for Shutter Island. The film as a whole may not have been critically acclaimed, though fans did praise the performance of its lead and the clever twist ending, which will always stay in my mind. And few would deny that The Aviator and The Departed were cinematic masterpieces born from the firm partnership.
More recently, it’s been exciting to know that the two worked with the actor who introduced the two in the first place on Apple TV+’s Killers of the Flower Moon. The movie, which is based on David Grann’s best-selling non-fiction novel, sees De Niro portraying William King Hale, who played a role in the Osage Nation murders in the ’20s. His co-star is playing Hale’s nephew, Ernest Buckhart, who found himself under his uncle’s influence while being married to a member of the Osage community. Critics saw the biographical crime film at Cannes and showered it with praise.
This won’t be the last joint venture between Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese either. They’ll be re-teaming for another Apple TV+ movie that will be adapted from one of David Grann’s other books, The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder. It’s always interesting when the pair dive into the historical drama genre, and I’m already excited and hopeful for what’s in store. Let’s hope the production also allows their relationship to further develop in positive ways.
You can see both stars and Robert De Niro in Killers of the Flower Moon, which opens in theaters on October 20 as part of the schedule of 2023 new movie releases. And be sure you have an Apple TV+ subscription so that you can stream the film at a later date.