Don Rickles Hilariously Embarrassed Quentin Tarantino On A Visit To Casino's Set
Don Rickles isn't afraid of insulting anyone, and a young Quentin Tarantino was no exception. Some of the biggest legends in Hollywood converged when the "Pulp Fiction" director met Martin Scorsese for the first time on the set of his 1995 film "Casino," in which Rickles played a supporting role. Rickles was a mutual friend of Scorsese and Tarantino, but he went out of his way to make Tarantino blush that day. Believe it or not, the famous insult comic didn't humiliate the young filmmaker with an insult — he did him in with a compliment.
"I was acting in a movie in Vegas and it turned out that during that time Scorsese was doing 'Casino' in Vegas," Tarantino revealed on the 2 Bears, 1 Cave Podcast. This was presumably the crime film "Destiny Turns on the Radio," which was released the same year as "Casino." "I'd never really met Martin Scorsese before, and so I got an invite to visit the set of 'Casino,'" the director recalled.
Tarantino is a major name in Hollywood now, but he was just at the beginning of his filmmaking career when he set foot on Scorsese's set for the first time, having only made "Pulp Fiction" and "Reservoir Dogs." Scorsese, on the other hand, had already been an acclaimed director for decades — to put it in perspective, "Casino" was released almost 20 years after "Taxi Driver."
"I've only done two movies, I'm meeting one of my heroes for the very first time, I'm walking on Scorsese's [set], I'm gonna have lunch with him later," Tarantino recalled, setting the scene. "This is right up there with the gates of Oz opening up and I'm gonna meet the wizard."
'Please save us from this wreckage!
Scorsese was a hero of Tarantino's when they met in 1995, and the "Jackie Brown" director was still only just breaking into the business. Unfortunately, he was in for a bit of a surprise when Rickles saw him walking onto the set.
"So I'm walking to meet the wizard. I'm walking on the set, they kind of see me. And then Don Rickles goes, 'Quentin! Thank God you're here! This guy doesn't know what he's doing at all! Thank God a real director has finally shown up, this cat is out of it! Please save us, this is a disaster! A disaster! Please save us from this wreckage! You are a talented man, we need your talent!' Marty's laughing, the crew is laughing, [Robert] De Niro's laughing — I wanna hide under the carpet. Cold sweat."
Even though Rickles laid into everyone indiscriminately, Tarantino was extra embarrassed because the comedian had insulted him in front of his hero — by comparing him to that very same hero, no less. But Tarantino knew what to expect from Rickles since the two met at an Oscars party. The Rat Pack legend had no trouble ribbing Tarantino there, either.
"It was during the time that I was doing a bit more acting and everything," the "Inglorious Basterds" director recalled, "And then he was saying, 'Yeah, this kid comes out as a director, and now he's like, oh, no, I don't do that anymore, I'm gonna star in movies.'"
Tarantino wasn't the only one that Rickles insulted on set
Tarantino might have been Rickles' main target that day, but he wasn't the only one on the set of "Casino" that fell victim to the comedian's silver tongue. A behind-the-scenes clip from the AARP revealed that Robert De Niro was not immune to Rickles' insults either. When the actor messed up one of his lines, the stand-up didn't hesitate to roast him.
"For the kind of money you're making, what do you need a card?" Rickles protested when De Niro reached for his script notes. "Learn the thing. You got a pop-up trailer, sit in there and study ... with your method acting, and the breathing, and the bulls***. Read the lines and let's get out of here."
He felt comfortable insulting De Niro after they got to know each other, but Rickles actually showed a lot of respect for the actor when they first met. "I walked in and said, 'Hi, Mr. De Niro,' like a schmuck," he recounted.
Despite having very few lines, Scorsese found Rickles difficult to direct. Still, the director insisted, the comedian brought something vital to the 1995 crime film. "You kind of had the whole look, the atmosphere, the whole sense of Vegas," Scorsese explained to Rickles. "And you also knew Lefty Rosenthal [former owner of the Stardust casino], whom Bob was playing under a different name, Ace Rothstein."
Sure, Rickles embarrassed him a little bit, but even a humiliated Tarantino knew that it was all in good fun. Tarantino might not have been regarded on par with Scorsese at the time, but he certainly is now, and everyone in this story remained on good terms. All's well that ends well, isn't it?