When Martin Scorsese's mother revealed she received $28 for her work in 'Mean Streets'
Mumbai, July 17
Legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese's mother mother Catherine Scorsese once revealed how she received $28 from her son for an acting gig in 'Mean 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 'Taxi 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 'The 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, 'Continue'".
The director shared, "She wrote down her own dialogue".
"I used to tell him, 'But I'm not an actress'. He used to tell me, 'But you don't have to be an actress'. I said, 'But I don't know how to act'. He says, 'Mother, you either get in the picture or you pay'. Money I didn't have, so I had to get in the picture. 'Mean Streets', they gave me $28 and I couldn't say anything".
— IANS
Reader Comments
The way she says "Money I didn't have, so I had to get in the picture" - that's so Indian mom energy! We do things for family even if we're not professionally trained. And getting paid only $28? That's like ₹2,300 today, which is honestly less than what our chai-wallahs earn in a day in Mumbai. But the love is priceless ❤️
I must say, this is a sweet story but also shows how even legendary directors like Scorsese started small with family helping out. Her improvised scene with De Niro is iconic. But one has to wonder - $28 for a whole film role? Even back then that seems low. Perhaps Scorsese should have paid his own mother a bit more! Still, the love they shared is heartwarming.
I love how she says "Continue" and she just wrote her own dialogue! That's pure genius. Indian cinema could learn from this - sometimes the best performances come from people who aren't trained actors. Like our own Mithun Chakraborty or Irrfan Khan started without formal training. Scorsese's mom is a legend in her own right 👏
Bro, $28 in Mean Streets (1973) would be about $200 today, which is around ₹16,000. Still not much for a speaking role, but then again it was a low-budget indie film. Our own parallel cinema in India had similar struggles - Shyam Benegal, Mani Kaul all used family and friends. It's the passion that matters, not the paycheck 😊
M Michael C