Martin Scorsese Dishes on Leonardo DiCaprio's Flirting With Lily Gladstone

Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio have worked together on several films over the years, with their most recent collaboration Killers of the Flower Moon garnering 10 nominations for the upcoming Academy Awards. DiCaprio plays Ernest Burkhart, best known for the Osage murders of the early 20^th century, and appears opposite Oscar nominee Lily Gladstone, who plays his Osage wife Mollie.

Scorsese has noted DiCaprio's comedic timing and chemistry with Gladstone when making the movie. In an October 2023 press conference, the legendary director revealed that DiCaprio improvised a line that got a "laugh for real" out of Gladstone. As DiCaprio's character is driving Mollie around the Osage reservation and hears her speak the Native language, he comments, "Well, I don’t know what that was, but it must have been Indian for 'handsome devil.'"

Related: Leonardo DiCaprio Makes Rare Comment About Personal Life, 'Complete Loss' of Privacy

On Jan. 26, Scorsese was at the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian to celebrate the movie's Oscar nominations and testified again to DiCaprio's flirtatious nature on set helping create chemistry between Ernest and Mollie. In one scene, Mollie worries that Ernest might not love her, which he reassures her he does. They proceed to get frisky and as Mollie unbuttons his shirt, Ernest quips, "You gonna try to wake the kids up now?" Scorsese revealed that the improvised line earned an honest laugh out of Gladstone, per Vulture.

Killers of the Flower Moon is up for a total of ten Oscars including Best Picture and a Best Actress nod for Gladstone. The movie is streaming now on Apple TV+.