Martin Scorsese heaps praise on Robert De Niro, calls him the 'greatest actor of his generation'
Martin Scorsese might not be the easiest person to please in the industry, but that doesn't mean he's averse to giving credit where credit is due. Speaking at the Variety Creative Impact Awards on January 3, the veteran director heaped praise on frequent collaborator Robert De Niro, calling him "the greatest actor of his generation".
De Niro was receiving the 'Creative Impact in Acting' Award at the event when the legendary filmmaker made the comments, reports Variety.
Scorsese, who was at the Parker Palm Springs to introduce 'The Irishman' star, reportedly declared that De Niro is "the greatest actor of his generation" whose "creative impact in acting will always be felt so long as there are actors to express their art".
Variety reports that the renowned filmmaker also noted a large number of movies (nine in total) that he and De Niro have done together, adding, "God willing, we’re on the tenth, with Leo [DiCaprio]."
"We met when we were 16 years old," Scorsese recalled. "I think the first movie star I had worked with was Paul Newman in The Color of Money. Before that… it was all just working with friends, almost like home movies… and that culminated in The Irishman. It took us many years to figure out that was the picture we wanted to make."
De Niro reportedly described 'The Irishman' as a "homecoming", saying, "You don’t do it alone… And it wouldn’t be any fun if you did do it alone. I was making a movie with my best friends. When I think about it I can’t believe how fucking old these guys are. You can’t de-age friendships. We spent 108 shooting days; I wish we could have shot for 108 more. Marty, can we do some reshoots?"
In 'The Irishman', De Niro plays Frank Sheeran, a real-life mob soldier at a Philly nursing home. He's struck by cancer and is confined to the mercy of a wheelchair. No family to lend some support, he narrates his career as the "Irishman" and recounts the time where assassinations and any form of grotesque events that changed the course of history were tied to the Mafia. The film has received rave reviews and has been nominated for a number of awards.
'The Irishman' is currently available for streaming exclusively on Netflix.