Scorsese & De Niro on getting Joe Pesci back in the game for The Irishman

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Following the release of LETHAL WEAPON 4, Joe Pesci had largely retired from the film industry, but Martin Scorsese knew that he wanted the actor to take part in THE IRISHMAN, a passion project which took some time to get off the ground. It would also take years for Pesci to agree to join the cast after numerous appeals from both Scorsese and Robert De Niro.

Joe Pesci plays the powerful mob boss Russell Bufalino in THE IRISHMAN, and, along with Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, has won considerable praise from critics for his work, but the film may have happened without him if it weren't for the persistence of his friends. Reports point to Pesci having been asked to join the project somewhere between 40-50 times, and in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Scorsese and De Niro discuss what it took to finally get the actor to agree. As Scorsese said that Joe Pesci and Robert De Niro "have their own language," it was mainly up to De Niro to lure Pesci in, who seems to have used the "come oooon" method to his advantage.

A lot of what I was saying was, 'Come on, who knows if we’re ever going to have this chance again?' Let’s just do it. And he loves Marty and greatly respects him and knows that if he’s in Marty’s hands, it’s going to be okay.

Martin Scorsese then dove into a variety of factors which could have influenced Pesci’s decision. "These are individual choices and sometimes people don’t want to do something for different reasons," Scorsese says. "It could be, financial issues. You could have that — I’m not saying he did, right? It could be family issues. It could be health. It could be boredom from doing a certain kind of film. Playing a certain character. Ultimately, if Bob asks enough and he pushes enough, does this makes sense? Let me put it this way: It would have to be comfortable for [Pesci] to make it, you know?" Only when Netflix agreed to back the expensive project did Joe Pesci finally agree to sign on. "It’s not even about the money or about being compensated and appreciated for your value," Scorsese explained. "It’s about the physicality of [making a film] where nobody’s giving you anything. At a certain age and physicality for the actors, it may not be worth it."

THE IRISHMAN will enjoy a  limited theatrical release on November 1, 2019 before finally hitting Netflix on November 27, 2019.