In-between preserving and restoring classic films and bashing Marvel, Martin Scorsese also made the three-and-a-half-hour crime drama “The Irishman.” During the promotional tour of his Netflix film, Scorsese stopped by the DGA theater in New York for a deep dive into the making of his film with fellow-director Spike Lee, where they discussed the long process of making the film, bringing Joe Pesci out of retirement, and of course, Trump.
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Scorsese and Lee discuss Scorsese’s long-time working relationship with Robert De Niro, and how the actor helped protect his creative control in the films they made together. “Bob would never take the film away from me, I knew it.” Scorsese said in the nearly 45-minute conversation, which you can listen to in full below. No matter how many major stars Scorsese would work with, the director admitted he never felt as safe with them as he did with De Niro.
Scorsese also touched upon one infamous project he was never able to crack: his adaptation of Don Winslow’s “The Winter of Frankie Machine,” which Scorsese was attached to direct in the early 2000s and was last reported that William Friedkin would develop and direct. Scorsese recounted the project, which he was supposed to do alongside Robert De Niro and said “I couldn’t bring it together. I couldn’t get what we do and the demands of the genre [to come together].” Speaking of dead projects, Scorsese also brought up the first time he tried to work with Al Pacino, when the pair tried to make a biopic on Italian painter Amedeo Clemente Modigliani in the 1980s, but never got off the ground due to lack of financing.
READ MORE: Martin Scorsese Explains Why Anna Paquin Only Has One Line In ‘The Irishman’
Of course, this being 2019, Donald Trump somehow comes into play whenever someone has a conversation about anything. So when discussing the making of “The Irishman,” Scorsese mentioned the influence Trump’s election had in the film. “It was there,” Scorsese said. “It was prominent [and] as it played it out there was resonance, there’s no doubt, in those scenes. I think you can see how pressure is applied.”
Listen to the full conversation below.