Martin Scorsese reveals two reasons he works so well with Leonardo DiCaprio despite 32-year age gap

Longtime friends and collaborators are currently working on their seventh feature film together

Martin Scorsese is old enough to be Leonardo DiCaprio’s father — but that doesn’t get in the way of their mutual respect.

The longtime collaborators are perhaps one of Hollywood’s most iconic actor-director duos, having worked together on six feature-length films and one short film over a period of more than 30 years. The pair is currently working on their seventh collaboration together: an adaptation of Peter Cameron’s 2020 ghost story What Happens at Night.

At Time magazine’s A Year in Time event held Thursday, Scorsese, 83, reunited with DiCaprio, 51, and revealed the two traits that define their successful working relationship.

“We have this ability to collaborate together, and it’s based on trust and love,” the Goodfellas director said, per People, highlighting the two traits that make their movie magic happen. “We go to places sometimes that at times feel almost impossible.”

Reflecting on their 2013 Oscar-nominated The Wolf of Wall Street, Scorsese emphasized that because “[trust] was so intrinsic of who we are together as collaborators,” they tried everything while filming, and that led to “some of the most extraordinary things.”

Leonardo DiCaprio (right) has starred in six feature films made by Martin Scorsese (left) (Getty Images for CinemaCon)

DiCaprio in his latest Scorsese film, ‘Killers of the Flower Moon,’ alongside Lily Gladstone (Apple TV+)

The Titanic star added that an important aspect of their working relationship is to “debate for months” about films and screenplays as part of a playful “cinema education.”

“[It’s] lots of questions and lots of playing devil’s advocate about a way to approach things that may not be the most obvious direction,” DiCaprio explained.

“We’re doing that on the new film that we’re doing now, but it’s been absolutely one of the most profound learning experiences.”

DiCaprio, who was named Time magazine’s 2025 Entertainer of the Year, was 27 when he first worked with Scorsese on his 2002 gangster film The Gangs of New York. He later starred in the director’s Howard Hughes biopic, The Aviator (2004), as well as The Departed (2006), Shutter Island (2010), The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), and his most recent Oscar-nominated historical drama, Killers of the Flower Moon (2023).

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DiCaprio leads Paul Thomas Anderson’s ‘One Battle After Another’ as washed-up revolutionary Bob Ferguson (Warner Bros.)

The actor earned two of his seven Oscar nominations for his performances in The Aviator and The Wolf of Wall Street. He is currently vying for his eighth with his lead role in Paul Thomas Anderson’s dark comedy One Battle After Another.

He has already earned a Golden Globe nomination in the Best Male Actor in a Film – Musical or Comedy category for his portrayal of fictional former revolutionary-turned-stoner Bob Ferguson.

One Battle After Another also stars Teyana Taylor, Sean Penn, Regina Hall, Benicio del Toro and newcomer Chase Infiniti. It follows Bob, who’s forced out of hiding when an old nemesis turns up and kidnaps his daughter.