Image: Pesci agreed to feature in the book following a nudge from De Niro. It's like being a historian on an archaeological dig.' 'That that to me is one of the great joys of telling these stories, when you unearth somebody who perhaps hasn't had the opportunity to tell their story before. It took me ages to find her but when I finally she kept saying, 'oh I remember on that last day on the beach, we took photographs, it brings back so many memories'.

'They wanted to take somebody with them to put all their scraps of paper and all their work down into a screenplay and the lady they took with them was Gloria Norris. 'The plan was to go to the Caribbean for three or four weeks and really stamp their authority on it,' says Glennie. The pictures of De Niro and Scorsese grinning and sipping cocktails, dressed in Hawaiian shirts, are a million miles away from the dark story they were about to commit to screen. He had to find that out to get into the character.'Īs 2020 went on, Glennie spoke to Scorsese and others involved in the film, hearing stories from behind the scenes and how Scorsese and De Niro flew out to Sint Maarten, in the Caribbean, to work on screenwriter Paul Schrader's screenplay. 'He said he had to find out how it felt to have your legs chapped because they're rubbing against one another, what it felt like to be out of breath, your hands putting on weight as well, not being able to pick up your children. The writer delved deep into everything, from why De Niro wanted to take on the character, to convincing Scorsese, to his training and then weight gain to capture LaMotta's later years. Pic: Gloria Norris/ Coattail Publications Image: De Niro and Scorsese travelled to the Caribbean to work on the script.

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