(L-R) Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio
Kevin Winter/Getty Images for CinemaCon
Martin Scorsese revealed that Leonardo DiCaprio’s “endless” courtship while filming “Killers of the Flower Moon” began to irritate him and Robert De Niro.
During an interview with The Telegraph published online Thursday, the famed filmmaker recalled working with the Oscar-winning actor on his latest project, based on the true story of the murders of members of the Osage Nation in the 1920s based.
According to Scorsese, DiCaprio and De Niro approached their roles completely differently, as DiCaprio’s improvisation was “endless, endless, endless” while “Bob [De Niro] “Didn’t want to talk.”
But both Scorsese and De Niro grew tired of the Inception actor’s constant courtship. “Every now and then Bob and I would look at each other and roll our eyes a little. And we told him, ‘You don’t need this dialogue,'” the director said.
In the film, De Niro and DiCaprio play an uncle (William Hale) and a nephew (Ernest Burkhart) who plan to steal the oil beneath the tribe’s land.
Throughout his career, DiCaprio has been known to improvise his lyrics, including in some of his biggest projects such as Titanic, The Wolf of Wall Street and Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.
Earlier this week, Scorsese also revealed to The Irish Times that after working on the film’s script for two years with his co-screenwriter Eric Roth, DiCaprio came in and suggested some changes.
The filmmaker said the original script was “told from the perspective of the officers investigating the murders,” but “The Departed” actor had a different idea.
“Leo came to me and said, ‘Where’s the heart of this story?'” Scorsese explained. “I had meetings and dinners with the Osage and thought, ‘Well, there’s the story.’ We felt like the real story wasn’t necessarily coming from outside the agency, but rather from inside Oklahoma.”
Killers of the Flower Moon is currently in theaters.