Martin Scorsese explains why he uses Leonardo DiCaprio in so many of his films
Topics: Leonardo DiCaprio, Film and TV, Martin Scorsese
Claire Reid
Featured Image Credit: Mickael Chavet / Project Daybreak / Tsuni / USA / Alamy Stock Photo
Topics: Leonardo DiCaprio, Film and TV, Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese has revealed why he works with Leonardo DiCaprio so frequently, with the Hollywood actor set to appear in his sixth movie from the legendary director later this year.
Scorsese and DiCaprio first worked together back in 2002 for Gangs of New York and soon reunited in 2004 for The Aviator and 2006’s The Departed.
They worked together again on Shutter Island in 2010 and The Wolf of Wall Street in 2013.
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The duo also made a short film - titled The Audition in 2015 - and are set to join forces once again in Western thriller Killers of the Flower Moon last year.
And it’s clearly no secret that the pair are seriously impressed with the other - with DiCaprio even thanking Scorsese when he won the Best Actor Oscar for The Revenant in 2016.
Collecting the coveted award, the 48-year-old said: "I have to thank everyone from the very onset of my career... to Mr. Jones [director Michael Caton-Jones] for casting me in my first film to Mr. Scorsese for teaching me so much about the cinematic art form."
And the feelings of respect and admiration are mutual, with the 80-year-old director praising the actor as a ‘natural’.
During a recent interview with Deadline, Scorsese said: “What’s great about Leo, and it’s why we work together so often, is, he goes there.
"He goes to these weird places that are so difficult and convoluted, and through the convolution, somehow there’s a clarity that we reach.
“And usually, it’s in the expression, in his face, in his eyes. I’ve always told him this.
“He’s a natural film actor. I could shoot a close-up of him, he could be thinking of nothing, and I could intercut anything with it, and people will say, ‘Oh, he’s reacting to such and such.’
"It’s the Kuleshov experiment.
“You could do that with him. There’s something in his face that the camera locks into, in his eyes. The slightest movement, we know it.”
He added: “It’s very interesting, what goes on behind the eyes. It’s all there.”
Scorsese also revealed that it was his other frequent collaborator, Robert De Niro, who first mentioned DiCaprio to him.
De Niro and DiCaprio starred alongside each other in 1993’s This Boy’s Life and will also be starring in Killers of the Flower Moon.
Scorsese says that during a phone conversation with the Taxi Driver star he was told: “I’m working with this young boy. You must work with him sometime.”
He went on: “That was the first time I heard him recommend somebody to me. ‘The kid is really good,’ he said.”