Scorsese to Reunite Casino Actors in The Irishman

In the 1990’s, Martin Scorsese directed two of the most iconic mob films ever seen on the big screen, Goodfellas (1990) and Casino (1995), and now the 74 year-old has announced he will be bringing its central cast members back for his latest project called The Irishman.
In addition to Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci, the $100 million budgeted mob movie will also feature another couple of actors famous for their portrayal of gangsters over the years, namely Oscar winner Al Pacino and Harvey Keitel.
The movie is based upon the 2004 book called ‘I Heard You Paint Houses’, whose central character is Frank Sheeran, a suspected Bufalino crime family associate who was linked to the corruption of unions, and the disappearance of Teamster leader Jimmy Hoffa. The alleged killing of Hoffa was dubbed the “biggest mob hit in history,“ and even the book’s title is a slang term for a “hit”, i.e. painting the walls with someone’s blood.
While The Irishman is the ninth time Scorsese and De Niro have collaborated on a movie, convincing Joe Pesci to join the cast was no easy feat for Scorsese who reputedly had to ask the actor more than 50 times before finally agreeing. According to reports, Pesci will be playing the part of Mafia boss Russell Bufalino, while Robert De Niro will portray Frank ‘The Irishman’ Sheeran, Al Pacino will be Jimmy Hoffa, and Harvey Keitel will play Philadelphia crime family boss Angelo Bruno.
All the The Irishman’s major actors mentioned are all now in their 70’s, which fits well with Scorsese’s goal of producing a more sobering gangster film, filled with elements of nostalgia as an older Sheeran looks back on the mob career. As Scorsese explained to the Independent in May:
“The people are also older in ‘The Irishman,’ it’s certainly more about looking back, a retrospective so to speak of a man’s life and the choices that he’s had to make.”