17 July,2026 12:52 PM IST | Mumbai | IANS
Martin Scorsese. Pic/AFP
Legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese's mother Catherine Scorsese once revealed how she received 28 dollars from her son for an acting gig in âMean Streets'.
An old video of a young Martin Scorsese has resurfaced which shows his mother speaking about performing in her son's movies despite having no formal training in acting.
In the video, she said, "I love to watch my son direct. I just love to sit there and watch him direct a picture. I'll tell you what I don't like. I don't like when he puts me in a picture and then he takes me out. That's not fair. I work so hard".
The director then interjected as he said, "She was cut out of âTaxi Driver'. She was Travis's first passenger. You had to go. That's it. And you took me out. I took you out. What else did I take you out of? Raging Bull you took me out of, too. Well, you were only an extra there. No, but you did a big scene in âThe King of Comedy'. You did the whole conversation with him. The whole scene in King of Comedy with Robert De Niro down in the basement. And his mother arguing with him is all improvised between the two of them".
She then said, "I thought of that all by myself. He gave me two words and he says, âContinue'".
The director shared, "She wrote down her own dialogue".
"I used to tell him, âBut I'm not an actress'. He used to tell me, âBut you don't have to be an actress'. I said, âBut I don't know how to act'. He says, âMother, you either get in the picture or you pay'. Money I didn't have, so I had to get in the picture. âMean Streets', they gave me 28 dollars and I couldn't say anything".
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