Martin Scorsese

 Martin Scorsese recreated 19th-century New York on the lot of Cinecitta studios in Rome to film "Gangs of New York" (2002). When George Lucas visited the massive set, he reportedly turned to Scorsese and said, "Sets like that can be done with computers now."

Scorsese first became interested in working with Leonardo DiCaprio on Robert De Niro's recommendation. De Niro had worked with the young actor on "This Boy's Life" (1993) and had been thoroughly impressed with his talent.

"Leo has a similar sensibility to me. I'm 30 years older than him, but I think we see the world the same way, meaning he feels comfortable with the characters I've dealt with over the years in movies. But also with Leo it's always an interesting process of discovery. And I don't say that in a facile way either, because we never know what that process is going to be, and it's always intimidating at first. And then Leo really gets into it and we start unravelling all these layers."

Daniel Day-Lewis was persuaded to come out of semi-retirement by the fact that he had enjoyed working with Scorsese so much on "The Age of Innocence"(1993). Day-Lewis stayed in character as Bill the Butcher throughout filming. He had several scuffles in Roman parking lots. Once, after the day's filming was finished, DiCaprio and Scorsese talked Day-Lewis into going out to eat with them. He refused to break character, and the waitress was afraid to go near him.

Scorsese cameos in the film as the wealthy man Jenny "turtledoves" at the head of the table.

Happy Birthday, Martin Scorsese!