During the first years of his career as a director,Martin Scorsesehad Robert De Niro as his main star. As time went by,Leonardo DiCapriotook his place as the filmmaker’s muse. And it turns out De Niro himself was the reason this duo formed in the first place. Scorsese and De Niro began working together in 1973 onMean Streets, the third film in the director’s filmography, which marked the beginning of a long list of collaborations together that includes classic titles such asTaxi Driver,Raging Bull,Goodfellas, and 1995’sCasino, which was the last film before the pair took a long hiatus from working together.
Seven years later,Scorsese would find his new big star, who debuted inGangs of New York, but that would never have happened without De Niro. In an interview withGQ, the director revealed that it was his first major collaborator who convinced him to get to know DiCaprio’s work:
“Leo DiCaprio was interesting because De Niro, we were acquainted with each other when we were 16 years old, so because of my relationship with him going back to when we were 16, he experienced what I experienced growing up, so he’s the only one I know who is around that, and who is working in the capacity that knows who I am and where I came from. And the world we were in. He then called me and said at one point that ‘I just made a film called This Boy’s Life’ and he was working with this kid that he cast, Leo DiCaprio, and he said ‘he’s very good, you’ve got to do work with him someday.’
And it was De Niro’s declaration that Scorsese should work with DiCaprio someday that really struck Scorsese’s ear.
“And Bob never really used to tell me that, work with somebody. Just, you know, we’d go from picture to picture working together. DiCaprio liked our pictures, we came together, and we said ‘why don’t we, we’ve always wanted to do Gangs of New York, we started it many times, it got canceled. Here’s a chance, this kid Leo DiCaprio really likes your films, at least meet with him.’ And he was willing to go whatever I could do to make that film. So that’s how it all started with him coming off of Titanic, a couple of other films.”
Related:Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro Movies: A Ranking of Their 9 Collaborations
Killers of the Flower Moon Will Reunite Scorsese With His Two Favorite Actors
In 2015, 20 years after the release ofCasinoand after working alongside DiCaprio in five projects, Scorsese finally managed to bring the two actors together for the first time inThe Audition, a comedy short film where both must compete to get the lead role in the director’s next film. Brad Pitt and Rodrigo Prieto also participated in the movie, all playing themselves.
A year later, Scorsese releasedSilence, in which neither DiCaprio nor De Niro participated, but the latter did return for 2019’sThe Irishman. In November,Killers of the Flower Moonwill hit theaters marking Scorsese’s first feature film in which both actors star.
De Nirobecomes one of the great villainsof the director’s entire filmography in this new film playing William Hale, who in real life was a political leader from Osage County who made his fortune through scams and dirty deals. DiCaprio, for his part, plays his nephew Ernest Burkhart, another character of dubious morality.
Killers of the Flower Moonis scheduled to be released in theaters in the United States on August 18, 2025, by Apple TV+.
