Martin Scorsese says female protagonists are a 'waste of time' unless the script demands a woman in the lead role
After coming under fire for saying Marvel movies are "not cinema," Martin Scorsese has opened up yet another can of worms.
The legendary director defended having men as leads in most of his movies saying having women in the lead role would be a "waste of time" if the script didn't call for it.
Scorsese was presenting his new film 'The Irishman' at the Rome Film Fest on Monday, October 21, along with producer Emma Tillinger Koskoff when he made the seemingly sexist comment, the Hollywood Reporter reported.
When a member of the Italian press asked him why his films’ protagonists were hardly ever women, Scorsese was visibly frustrated. "No. That’s not even a valid point. That’s not valid... That goes back to 1970. That’s a question that I’ve had for so many years. Am I supposed to?"
He pointed out that the question of casting a female lead was intricately linked with the demands of the script. "If the story doesn’t call for it, it’s a waste of everybody’s time. If the story calls for a female character lead, why not?" he said.
Koskoff then came to his defence and pointed out that his 1974 film 'Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore' saw a female lead in Ellen Burstyn.
However, Scorsese seemed to get increasingly upset with the reporter's apparent lack of knowledge. "Oh, that’s only one film. They don’t count that. 'Age of Innocence,' they don’t count that. 'Casino'. Sharon Stone’s great in that. They don’t count that. Forget it. It’s all these men," he continued.
When he implied that he was unfairly targeted by the media, Scorsese received huge applause from the audience. "Sure, I’d like to. But you know what... I’m 76 now. How am I going to have the time? I don’t know what’s going to happen. We don’t know. I don’t have time anymore," he said.