Billy Crystal Reflects On ‘Scary’ Martin Scorsese During His NYU Days; ‘He’d Stand Behind You…’

As an ardent admirer of both Billy Crystal and Martin Scorsese, hearing about their shared history at New York University is nothing short of fascinating! Imagine being in a classroom with two future titans of cinema, each destined to leave indelible marks on the silver screen.

It might be surprising to know that Billy Crystal and Martin Scorsese had a shared past before they both achieved mainstream success. As it turns out, Crystal was once a student at New York University, while Scorsese was a graduate student and one of his professors there.

During a conversation on Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist’s podcast, Crystal described Jordan Belfort, the director of The Wolf of Wall Street, as “intimidating” at that particular point in time.

In simpler terms, during an interview, the actor who played Harry in When Harry Met Sally mentioned he attended NYU. He studied under Martin Scorsese, who was a graduate student and working on his debut film called “Who’s That Knocking At My Door” at that time. The actor also stated it was around the years 1968, 1969, or 1970.

In the podcast, I learned that Martin Scorsese, older than me by six years, sported a long beard, donned granny glasses, and let his hair cascade down to his shoulders. On the set of City Slickers, he was known for his intimidating presence as he stood behind me during film editing. His intensity was palpable, making him rather frightening due to his rapid speech – a trait that seemed even more pronounced because at the time, he was considerably younger than 50 years old.

It seems like the actor found Scorsese’s instruction less than captivating, as he once remarked, “He’d often say, ‘Why did you take that angle? Use a wide shot! Howard Hawks always used a wide shot.’ I replied, ‘I’m only 19 – I don’t even know who Howard Hawks is!’

In the end, things turned out well for both of them since their time at NYU concluded. Crystal gained fame through films such as When Harry Met Sally, The Princess Bride, Memories of Me, and numerous others. On the other hand, Scorsese earned global acclaim with movies like Taxi Driver, The Departed, Wolf of Wall Street, Goodfellas, and many more.

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2024-12-16 10:08