Entertainment Weekly - August 23, 2002 - Cover Story
Tough Turf
Martin Scorsese revisits the mean streets of early Manhatten in ''Gangs of New York,'', but getting there was no walk in the park. His controversial saga stars Leo DiCaprio and Cameron Diaz and took 25 years to finish
by Chris Nashawaty
Martin Scorsese had every reason to feel bullish about his career . After the gritty and dazzling
one-two punch of ''Mean Streets'' and ''Taxi Driver,'' he was being treated like the poet laureate
of the New York cinema. He had to be feeling a bit like the prettiest girl at the prom too. After
all, what studio head wouldn't kill to get in the sack with the hot young director?
Scorsese was 34 at the time. Confident, talented, and seemingly unstoppable. So he figured it was
the ideal time for his most ambitious New York story yet -- a sweeping 19th-century epic about
warring immigrant groups. It would have a marquee name in the lead role of an Irish-American
roughneck named Amsterdam, who'd set out on a hero's quest to avenge his father's murder at the
hands of a bloodthirsty political fixer named Bill the Butcher. There'd be a love interest -- a
sassy pickpocket -- and a hugely expensive battle scene at the climax. In other words, it would
be big. Scorsese didn't have a script yet, but he knew it would cost a fortune. So in June 1977,
with the cocksure certainty of a man on an unbroken winning streak, Scorsese took out a two-page
ad in Variety trumpeting his next project: ''Gangs of New York.''
But within a few years, a string of big-budget, big-ego productions from similarly hot young
auteurs like Francis Ford Coppola (''Apocalypse Now'') and Michael Cimino (''Heaven's Gate'') ran
aground. Studios panicked. Checkbooks snapped shut. And mavericks like Scorsese saw their green
lights turn red. ''It was the end of the power of the director,'' says Scorsese 25 years later.
''It was the end of making films that were big and provocative. There was just no way 'Gangs of
New York' could get made after that.''
Scorsese is almost 60 now. Sure he still spits out sentences with his signature rat-a-tat speed --
especially after he gets an expresso in him. But he does so while padding around the living room
of his Manhatten townhouse in a pair of black slippers. His face is unshaven and heavy with gray
stubble. His eyes seem tired.
He's two weeks away from finishing postproduction on ''Gangs.'' With the help of Leonardo DiCaprio,
Daniel Day-Lewis, and Cameron Diaz, the movie it has taken him 25 years to make is almost done.
But rather than triumph, his weary eyes bring to mind the old saying ''Be careful what you wish
for?.'' After all, judging from the dire dispatches from the ''Gangs'' set in Rome last year --
the out-of-control budget, the script being tapped out as they went along, the clashes with his
bristling financier, Miramax chief Harvey Weinstein -- making his dream film may have at times
resembled a horrific nightmare. ''All I know is I did the best I could,'' Scorsese says,
shrugging. ''If people are watching the movie 20 years from now? Who knows? I'll be dead.''
*
"When we saw "Mean Streets", the whole world just expanded for us - all us ragamuffins who were looking for something to believe in" - Daniel Day-Lewis on his favorite Scorsese film.
*
Daniel Day-Lewis knows how to make a badass entrance. On a sunny August afternoon, the 45 year
old Oscar winner tears up to a roadside seafood shack in rural Connecticut on a yellow Triumph
motorcycle. The locale was his choice. First because this joint makes an excellent lobster roll.
And second because he has no intention of giving out his address to some journalist.
After brushing off all the doom-drenched reports about the making of "Gangs" as hogwash, he
loosens up. Especially when he talks about getting "bamboozled" into playing Bill the Butcher. It
started with a phone call to Harvey Weinstein, when the Miramax boss was in the hospital being
treated for a bacterial infection in early 2000. "I shot myself in the foot" says Day-Lewis
laughing. "I thought, 'I'll get him while he's down', and I called to ask for some money for my
wife's film, which he never gave us, by the way. And he said, "Martin's looking for you"
The actor hadn't made a film since 1997's The Boxer. He says he's spent the past five years with
his family (incidentally, his wife, writer-director Rebecca Miller, won the top prize at Sundance
this year with Personal Velocity, and without Harvey's help). He says that during his time off,
he read five volumes of Winston Churchill's Duke of Marboro biography and apprenticed under a
master shoemaker in Florence. While he'll go on and on about Churchill, the shoemaking thing's off
limits (but when the tape recorder is turned off, he's happy to talk about it for half an hour).
During that hiatus, his agents knew not to send him scripts. Heck, Day-Lewis wasn't even sure if
he'd ever act again. When asked why he regards making movies as such a chore, and why he's kept
away from them for so long, he unspools the following metaphor: "The image springs to mind is when
you leave a field lying fallow because you've used up all the nutrients in the soil. And you can't
grow in that soil for a couple of years." Hmm, let's give him another shot: "This may be an
unbelievable comparison", he says, beginning to crack up, "but women, after a period of time, can
give birth to another child because they forget what it's like."
Day-Lewis did finally get in touch with Scorsese, who'd directed him in 1993's Age of Innocence.
When they got together at the filmaker's Manhatten office, Scorsese immediately tried to seduce
the actor with photographs from the period. But even though he suspected Scorsese would need allies
against "The Fat Man", as Day-Lewis calls Weinstein, he wasn't sure his field had lain fallow for
long enough. "To any other living actor, if you got a role like Bill the Butcher, directed by
Martin Scorsese, in a period epic--it's like any actor's wet dream!", says Leonardo DiCaprio.
"But I just think he needed to go through a certain process."
When Daniel Day-Lewis showed up on the ''Gangs'' set in Italy in September 2000, he was already
Bill the Butcher. He spoke with Bill's broad New York accent and already carried around Bill's
rage -- a mental state he would trigger each morning by blasting Eminem while he worked out. One
other thing: Everyone had to call him Bill too. ''I just met Daniel recently,'' says Cameron Diaz,
more than a year after ''Gangs'' wrapped. ''The whole time he was Bill. Never Daniel. Always
Bill.'' Day-Lewis lowers his head and laughs when he hears this. Then I ask if he thinks his
costars were intimidated by him. ''I suppose it's a little strange. You'd have to ask them.''
Diaz: ''Yes.''
DiCaprio: ''You just become used to it after a while. I've heard stories about 'Method' actors...
and at the end of the day when the director calls 'Cut,' they're still that character and they go
home and beat the s--- out of their wives. But if I had something I wanted to collaborate on, I
never felt like he was going to pull a butcher's knife on me.''
As much as Day-Lewis enjoyed working with Scorsese again, (or at least as much as Bill did), he's
glad to be done with the film. In fact, he says this so sincerely that when asked if it's going to
be another five years before he acts again, he shrugs and says, "I don't know" in a way that
makes you think that number may be close to 10.
*
"Gosh, I'd say 'The King of Comedy' but I just saw 'The Last Waltz'. I wasn't sure if I wanted to sit through an hour of The Band, but then this whole story unfolded...." - Cameron Diaz on her favorite Scorsese film
*
Cameron Diaz remembers being terrified as she left the set of ''Charlie's Angels'' to fly to New
York for her ''Gangs of New York'' audition. She knew going in that the role of Jenny Everdeane --
the street-smart love interest of DiCaprio's Amsterdam -- was being read by virtually every
important young actress, even the ones like her who'd graduated past reading for parts. ''I just
didn't want to make a total ass out of myself,'' Diaz says. Plus, she says that she was just
looking forward to gobbling up whatever morsels of direction Scorsese would toss her way: ''I
didn't care if I got the job -- I got to read for Marty Scorsese.''
When Diaz nervously walked into Scorsese's office to audition, she remembers hoping that her upper
lip wouldn't sweat. So she was relieved to see that her long-time friend Leonardo DiCaprio would
be reading with her. "There was a comfort level we had that wasn't there for some of the others
that read for the part" says DiCaprio. "The other ones felt like an audition. I mean, we met a lot
of girls for the part."
Scorsese remembers being impressed by Diaz in Oliver Stone's ''Any Given Sunday'' and the few bits
of ''There's Something About Mary'' he caught on TV one night. But it's what she did for DiCaprio's
performance that ultimately sold him. ''When she came in, something happened. He kind of brightened
up,'' Scorsese says. ''There was some sort of chemistry between the two of them, and I thought
then that she could do it -- the way she was affecting him.'' Then he begins to laugh. ''None of
the dialogue they were reading wound up in the script.''
If that weren't enough to warn Diaz that her part was a work in progress, she certainly got the
hint when she arrived in Rome, where her lines would change seemingly every day. Scorsese and his
'Age of Innocence' co-writer Jay Cocks took the first crack at adapting Herbert Ashbury's 1927
book The Gangs of New York. Then screenwritiers Hossein Amini ('The Wings of the Dove')and Steven
Zaillian ('Schindler's List') both worked on drafts, followed by Kenneth Lonergan ('You Can Count
On Me'), who shuttled back and forth to Italy for on-set polishing. "That's the norm for me",
says Diaz, referring to the even more extreme rewriting on the set of 'Charlie's Angels'. "When
you have a movie with all these amazing actors on board, the studio wants the movie made NOW!"
Diaz even remembers going a few weeks on the set without shooting a single scene. By the end,
she wound up staying in Italy for six months - several more than she had planned. "Were the
circumstances ideal?" she asks. "No. I joked about it to bust everyone's balls, but the truth is
you're in Rome making a movie with Marty Scorsese, you don't want to complain."
To pass the time she says that she hung out with a man called 'The Magician' - an Italian
pickpocket whom Scorsese had hired to teach Diaz how to boost wallets and watches for her role.
"I'm a little rusty now because I haven't done it in a while.", the 29 year old actress says,
sitting crosslegged on a black leather sofa in a Los Angeles photo studio. "But you know what it
is? It's the easiest thing: it's a mix of hitting your target and diversion.." Then she kicks off
her red flip-flops, stands up, and proceeds to detail how she'd lift my wallet. She takes one look
at my back pocket and smiles a cocky smile, "That's almost too easy!"
*
"Taxi Driver..... It's a cliche, but any young actor sitting here would say the same thing" - Leonardo DiCaprio on his favorite Scorsese film.
*
Leonardo DiCaprio had no idea what ''Gangs'' was about. He just knew he wanted to be in it. He
remembers being in Thailand, preparing to shoot ''The Beach,'' when he first read the script. From
the title, he assumed it might involve tommy guns and Westies in Hell's Kitchen. It didn't
matter, really -- he already knew he was going to say yes. DiCaprio says that he actually changed
agents when he was 17, mainly because the new ones promised that they could get him a meeting with
Scorsese.
DiCaprio, 27, was the first actor to sign on to "Gangs of New York", and it's safe to say that
without him, the $97 million movie would not have been made. Because while Scorsese's power as a
director nearly got Gangs made the first time around a quarter of a century ago, we're no longer
living in the age of the director, but the A-list star. Never mind that DiCaprio was 2 years old
in 1977, his name was the closest thing Gangs had to collateral. But he also had the contractual
misfortune to see his salary shrink by millions as budget overruns made Miramax twitchy. Still he
insists, "this is the way movies should be made. It was almost like a theater group - we were
creating a lot of what we did as we went along."
DiCaprio is understandably reluctant to talk about his post-Titanic fame and the financial clout
his name now carries. But his costars are happy to come to his defense. "He'd already established
himself as a really fine actor long before he got all that attention", insists Daniel Day-Lewis,
"and he probably very happily would have done without it. It probably wasn't a very happy
experience doing that film...but as he says, the prize is he gets to do the work he wants to now."
When I asked DiCaprio what he learned from the Titanic phenomenon almost five years ago, there's a
long silence. "It was really an intense experience" he finally says, "There was no guidebook on
what it's like to become this huge, world-known actor, you know? There were crazy times, there
were fun times, but for the most part it was a pretty empty experience."
Today, with Scorsese sitting by his side, DiCaprio compares the physical hardships of making
''Titanic'' and ''Gangs'': Both were made under a tabloid microscope; both went over budget and
had their release dates delayed; and both were pronounced DOA before anyone saw them. Then he
breaks the news to Scorsese that ''Gangs''' shoot actually lasted longer than ''Titanic'''s.
Scorsese turns red and sheepishly hangs his head. ''Really? My God! Sorry!''
It couldn't have been that bad. DiCaprio (whose con artist movie ''Catch Me if You Can,'' like
''Gangs,'' opens on Christmas Day) says that his next starring role will be in a Howard Hughes
biopic called ''The Aviator''...to be directed by Martin Scorsese.
*
"I don't know if any of my work is good" - Martin Scorsese on his favorite Scorsese film
*
In the living room of his town house, Scorsese launches into an anecdote about one of the lowest
points of his career. It was New Year's Eve, 1983, and he was getting dressed to head over to
Jay Cocks' house to celebrate. The plug had just been pulled on another one of his dream projects,
The Last Temptation of Christ, so he wasn't sad to see the year end. The TV was on in the
background, tuned in to Entertainment Tonight. On his way out the door, he heard the show's
announcer tease the top story before the commercial break. And coming up, the biggest flop of
the year! Scorsese's morbid curiosity made him stick around to see what poor film they were
talking about. It was The King of Comedy.
The anecdote is telling because Scorsese seems most comfortable when he's discussing what he
perceives as his failures. Talking about other filmmakers, Scorsese tosses the word genius around
like confetti, but when it comes to his own films, you'd think he was talking about Ed Wood.
He's quick to point out that his only major hit was his 1991 remake of ''Cape Fear'' (which
grossed $79 million); he talks about how films like ''Last Temptation'' (which finally got made
in 1988) were compromised. And when he wonders if there's a place for him in Hollywood today,
you almost want to pat him on the back and tell him it's going to be okay.
''I feel like I'm sort of hanging on. I keep getting in there and throwing my punches. I'm not
that interested in the average film that comes out of Hollywood. I might see it, but what can I
learn? How to make a blockbuster? I don't know if I want to. I mean, it would be nice someday,
maybe.''
He continues, ''It would be nice to be able to stay in touch with an audience. To think that
you've become so antiquated in your thinking...or that you're dealing with issues that don't mean
anything to anybody -- that might be a funny kind of bad feeling...'' He trails off and shrugs.
''But I don't think that's the case yet.''
Scorsese looks at his watch and realizes it's getting late. He'd love nothing more than spending
the whole afternoon in his slippers, unshaven, but he can't. He's due back in the editing room.
After all, it may be 25 years late in coming, but he has a movie to finish.
Thanks to Treggy for the full article !
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