Martin Scorsese Breaks Down Why He Likes Working With Leonardo DiCaprio Again And Again

For more than 20 years, Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio have been staples in one another's careers. When the book is written telling their respective stories, it will be impossible to mention one without discussing the other. From "Gangs of New York" to the upcoming epic "Kills of the Flower Moon" and everything in between, Scorsese and DiCaprio have done some truly remarkable work together. So, why is it that Scorsese, a director who absolutely gets his choice of actor, goes back to DiCaprio time and time again?

The director addressed that very topic in a wide-ranging interview with Deadline recently. Perhaps not surprisingly, one of cinema's most respected and gifted filmmakers gave a pretty impressive reason for his desire to return to DiCaprio over and over again. Here's what he had to say about it:

"He goes to these weird places that are so difficult and convoluted, and through the convolution, somehow there's a clarity that we reach. And usually it's in the expression, in his face, in his eyes. I've always told him this. He's a natural film actor. I could shoot a close-up of him, he could be thinking of nothing, and I could intercut anything with it, and people will say, 'Oh, he's reacting to such and such.' It's the Kuleshov experiment. You could do that with him. There's something in his face that the camera locks into, in his eyes. The slightest movement, we know it."

Scorsese added that his constant editor Thelma Schoonmaker is also impressed with DiCaprio's work, stating:

"[S]he often goes, 'Look at this. Look at the eye movement here. I think we should keep it.' It's very interesting, what goes on behind the eyes. It's all there."

An actor can be a great actor, but they're not all cut from the same cloth. In the same way that Scorsese is absolutely a cinematic director who makes movies, he believes that DiCaprio is a great film actor. This is a man whose face you can focus on, who can tell you a story with his eyes. It's part of what makes "The Departed" work like gangbusters, as DiCaprio has to convincingly live a double life before our eyes. Does that movie win Best Picture with a different central performance? It's difficult to imagine it any other way, and it's not easy for another actor to match Jack Nicholson firing on all cylinders like that.

It's also fascinating to look at the sheer range of performances that DiCaprio has turned in for Scorsese. Teddy Daniels from "Shutter Island" compared to Jordan Belfort in "The Wolf of Wall Street"? It's hardly the same person. Yet, in reality, it is the same person. This is a collaboration that has brought out the best in both of these filmmakers, and that's truly saying something. Especially when we consider that DiCaprio is only second to Robert De Niro in terms of all-time great Scorsese collaborators — and that may be the single best director/actor duo in history.

We will get to see them work together again when "Killers of the Flower Moon" hits theaters on October 6, 2023.