You're in two giant movies coming out, back-to-back,

that everybody's talking about -- "The Irishman,"

with Martin Scorsese... -Yeah.

-...and also "Joker"... -Yeah.

-...with Joaquin Phoenix.

And is it Todd Phillips directing?

-Yes, Todd Phillips. -But in "Joker" --

Well, first of all, how was Joaquin to play with?

-He was terrific, yeah. He was great.

-He's good, right. And in the film --

-I don't like what he does to me, but...

[ Laughter ]

-'Cause from what I've seen, the trailer, what I've seen,

you kind of play -- I mean, you kind of play --

Well, you play a talk-show host who reminds me of...

[ Laughter ]

-I wonder who.

-I mean, I didn't get a phone call...

[ Laughter ]

...I didn't get any research.

Answer me -- was it hard to play a talk-show host?

-No, it was fun. [ Laughter ]

I wasn't happy the way it turned out, but...

-Oh, yeah, yeah, all right.

Maybe I'll only watch the first half.

All right, yeah, yeah, good.

Let's talk about "The Irishman."

Wow! I can't even --

We've been talking about this film for years now.

-Yeah, yeah. -The last couple

appearances you've been on...

This took a long time.

-Yeah, I think I started --

I looked at the book when we started shooting

about two years ago, and it had been 10 years --

so 12 years from now --

that I had started reading the book.

'Cause I make a note when I read it just to remind myself

how long ago it was and notes and everything, so...

-And the book is called "I Heard You Paint Houses."

-Right, right. -Now, I did not know --

Like, if I hear that, I go -- "I Heard You Paint Houses,"

you go, "Yeah, I paint houses."

-Yeah, yeah. Well, it's a --

Should I say what it is? -Yeah, I think you should.

-It's an expression of killing somebody --

Being a hit man, and then I do my own...

I think it's repair work, too, or my own...

-Clean-up. -...clean-up.

And that means he cleans up the mess, too, and...

disposes of the body and all that.

-I did not know that at all. I was like, "Wow!

That's what 'I heard you paint houses' means?"

Like, yeah. So, I'm watching this thing.

First of all, so it's you and Martin Scorsese back again.

This is your ninth film together.

It's opening up the New York Film Festival this Friday.

-Yes. -I love that you always do

the festivals, the local festivals.

You always take care. And the Tribeca.

You're great with that stuff.

So, it's opening this Friday.

And I just -- To see you guys back,

it's everything you want in a Martin Scorsese/

Robert De Niro film.

It is every single thing that you want.

There's -- There's -- There's violence,

but there's also -- [ Laughter ]

There's a good story, there's good music.

He always throws in a little food stuff in there

that is very exact.

That thing about Lum's Hot Dogs

which I didn't know anything about.

I got to get into it.

Also, let's just talk about the cast.

You -- I'm happy with just you.

[ Laughter ]

I am so happy with just you. [ Cheers and applause ]

That's all I need. I don't need anything else.

I don't need any other actors.

You could just be in the whole thing.

But then, you got Joe Pesci back.

I'm like, "What?!" [ Cheers and applause ]

I love you and Joe Pesci!

I love you guys together.

Then, Al Pacino comes in.

[ Cheers and applause ]

Then, Harvey Keitel shows up.

All right. This is all the heavy hitters.

But I was thinking about it.

You, Joe, and Marty all worked together before.

Al has never worked with you three at the same time.

-No.

-Did you guys bully him a little bit?

-No, no, no. We've been talking about this

for many years, doing it, so I was, I mean, I --

I was very happy that it all could finally happen.

-You guys have great chemistry.

Do you hang out with Al Pacino at all?

-No, but we have been friends for years.

And sometimes we've hung out together, yeah.

-Did you ever compete for roles?

-Well, how can we not?

We're gonna be up for the same thing at certain times.

That would be normal. -Yeah.

-I mean, when "Godfather 1" was getting ready

and Francis was seeing a lot of actors,

every actor in New York was looking, you know,

to be in it and testing for it and so on.

But he wanted Al.

And in my case, aside from auditioning for it,

then I wanted the other part, the Jimmy Kahn part -- Sonny.

Because I knew Al was cast.

But he wanted Jimmy for that, too.

But then Al went to do "Godfather."

He was cast in "The Gang that Couldn't Shoot Straight."

Then I was in "The Gang that Couldn't Shoot Straight,"

so it sort of turned out good.

-And then you were in together in "Godfather 2,"

where you play a young Don Corleone.

Oh, interesting -- my mom and dad

went to go see "Godfather" in Manhattan in 1972.

Or maybe in Brooklyn in 1972.

When they left, they looked at the newspaper,

and the headline said "Joey Gallo Rubbed Out."

-Yeah. -That was 1972.

And that's what this film, "The Irishman,"

is kind of around.

There's so many families involved and things.

Get ready. It is everything you want.

I was freaking out. I was like, "Wait.

I know all these stories.

I didn't know Joey Gallo got hit in...

-Umberto's, yeah. -Umberto's, in Little Italy.

I didn't know any of this stuff.