Did Rob Reiner work with Martin Scorsese? "Shutter Island" director remembers friend in an emotional essay

Martin Scorsese, the director known for his works like Shutter Island and Taxi Driver, penned down his thoughts about Rob Reiner in an essay published by The New York Times on December 25. Reiner worked in Scorsese’s 2013 comedy thriller The Wolf of Wall Street, which starred Leonardo DiCaprio, Margot Robbie, and Jordan Belfort, among others. Reiner played the role of Max Belfort.

He began the essay with the lines:

“Rob Reiner was my friend, and so was Michele. From now on, I’ll have to use the past tense, and that fills me with such profound sadness. But there’s no other choice.”

He mentioned how he met Rob through his other acquaintances. Remembering Rob Reiner, Martin Scorsese wrote:

“Rob and I were both Eastern transplants, in a way. He and his family had moved to Los Angeles when he was young, but he was born in the Bronx and lived in New Rochelle as a child. Rob came from New York show business royalty.”

He mentioned that he met Rob Reiner at actor George Memmoli’s house. At the time, The Cisco Kid was being played on the radio. Rob told Scorsese that he knew Cisco Kid, which caught the latter by surprise. Rob later revealed that he was joking. In the essay, Martin Scorsese also remembered Rob’s parents. He said he liked to hang out with the When Harry Met Sally... director. He further wrote:

“We had a natural affinity for each other. He was hilarious and sometimes bitingly funny, but he was never the kind of guy who would take over the room. He had a beautiful sense of uninhibited freedom, fully enjoying the life of the moment, and he had a great barreling laugh.”

What did Martin Scorsese say about Rob Reiner’s role in The Wolf of Wall Street?

Martin Scorsese shared that Rob Reiner's Misery was one of his favorite movies. Mentioning This Is Spinal Tap, Scorsese wrote:

“Somehow, that picture is in a class of its own. It’s a kind of immaculate creation. And a big part of the greatness of that film is Rob himself, as director and as actor.”

When Martin Scorsese was looking for people to act in The Wolf of Wall Street, he decided that Rob Reiner would play DiCaprio’s father. According to him:

“He [Rob] could improvise with the best, he was a master at comedy, he worked beautifully with Leo and the rest of the guys, and he understood the human predicament of his character.”

Martin Scorsese also said:

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“I was moved by the delicacy and openness of his performance when we shot it, moved once again as we brought the scene together in the edit and moved as I watched the finished picture. Now, it breaks my heart to even think of the tenderness of Rob’s performance in this and other scenes.”

Concluding his essay, Martin Scorsese wrote that whatever happened to Rob Reiner and his wife was an “obscenity.” However, with time, he hoped to deal with it better. He wished that someday he would be at a dinner party with Rob seated beside him. He hoped to see Rob laugh and enjoy his company.

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