Robert De Niro REJECTED Martin Scorsese's two major hits

Martin Scorsese has unveiled the inside about Robert De Niro that he declined two of his hit movies: The Departed and Gangs of New York.

During an interview with Deadline about his 2006's flick casting, the auteur said, "We talked to Bob [De Niro] about it, but he didn't want to do it."

"I didn't work with Bob for 10 years until we did Goodfellas; we went off in different directions. Then we made another two, three films. And then, for another 19 years, we didn't. In the meantime, there were two with Daniel Day-Lewis, and for years I wanted to work with Jack Nicholson, if work is the word," the critically-acclaimed director added.

The 80-year-old continued, "So with Bob, after Casino, we stopped for a while and I did Kundun, and Bringing Out The Dead. And then Gangs Of New York. We always checked in, on that and everything else. He wanted me to do Analyze This, and I said, 'We already did it. It was Goodfellas.'

I talked to him about other projects, and at one point he said, 'You know the kind of stuff I like to do with you.' And I said, 'OK'. That became The Irishman, and it took nine years. "We were always looking. 'What about The Departed?' 'Nah, I don't wanna do that.' 'OK.'"

On Gangs of New York, Scorsese revealed, "That was just a check-in. Literally, he said, 'What are you doing?' 'I'm doing this. You interested?' 'Nah.' 'OK'. We always talked about that kind of thing, because he is the only one around who knows where I came from and who I am, from that period of time when we were 15 or 16 years old."

The latest collaboration of the duo will be in Killers Of The Flower Moon, which is set to open in cinemas on October 20, 2023.