Martin Scorsese offered Robert De Niro 'The Departed' & 'Gangs of New York'

Robert De Niro reportedly turned down The Departed and Gangs of New York when Martin Scorsese offered them to him, as per the ace director himself.

Speaking to 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," Scorsese shared. 

The critically-acclaimed director added: "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 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.'

Scorsese went on to reveal that he 'talked' to De Niro about 'other projects' and was told by the actor at one point, "You know the kind of stuff I like to do with you." 

That statement from De Niro then spawned The Irishman, Scorsese revealed, saying, "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 duo's latest collaboration will be in Killers Of The Flower Moon, which will open in theatres on October 20, 2023.