Leonardo DiCaprio's improv annoyed Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese in “Killers of the Flower Moon”
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Killers of the Flower Moon marks the first movie where Martin Scorsese unites his longtime muses Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio — but their different working styles didn't always gel.
In a profile by the Wall Street Journal Magazine, the filmmaker discussed how the Wolf of Wall Street star's improv performance occasionally irritated the Taxi Driver actor. "Every now and then, Bob and I would look at each other and roll our eyes a little bit," Scorsese said. "And we'd tell [DiCaprio], 'You don't need that dialogue.'"
Scorsese described DiCaprio's verbosity as "endless, endless, endless!" whereas De Niro "didn't want to talk."
Ethan Miller/Getty;Gareth Cattermole/Getty Leonardo DiCaprio; Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese
Last month, Scorsese told reporters about the two actors' distinct processes at a press conference. "I found I could work with [Leo] if I talked with him a lot," Scorsese said. "His method for me is a method of constant conversation, constant exploration. With De Niro, it's a little different. Yes, there's talking, but then there's quiet." The difference in approaches ultimately yielded quality results, though: "the two together played off each other so beautifully," Scorsese insisted.
The filmmaker also explained how the two actors remind him of each other. "When Leo and I started to work together, I discovered we had similar sensibilities that Bob and I had," Scorsese said. "He was also brave enough to go to places the way that Bob would — difficult places. [He had] a fearlessness about performing and trying anything."
In Killers of the Flower Moon, DiCaprio plays Ernest Burkhart, a World War I veteran who romances Molly Kyle (Lily Gladstone), while De Niro portrays his uncle, Oklahoma businessman William Hale. The film marks Scorsese's tenth feature film with De Niro, and his sixth with DiCaprio.
De Niro, 80, and DiCaprio, 48, previously worked together in 1993's This Boy's Life, as well as 1996's Marvin's Room. They also teamed up for Scorsese's extended advertisement The Audition in 2015, which promoted a hotel resort in Macau. In that short project, the actors play themselves as they awkwardly compete for the lead role in Scorsese's next film — and both ultimately lose to Brad Pitt, who never actually acted in another project for the director. (Pitt did produce Scorsese's 2006 Best Picture winner, The Departed, though).
Killers of the Flower Moon hits theaters Friday.
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