Martin Scorsese has revealed that he trained for the priesthood in his younger years, until being kicked out for bad behaviour.
Mr. Scorsese, a new documentary series, delves into the filmmaker’s life and achievements, and charts his rise to becoming the Oscar-winning director behind cinematic classics such as Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, and Goodfellas. An article by Variety quotes a moment in the series where he discusses a moment early in his life where he could have taken another path.
Raised Catholic, Scorsese attended mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City from a young age, and his faith inspired him to start studying for the priesthood. “There was a preparatory seminary, and that was on 85th Street somewhere. I did okay for the first few months, but something happened,” he said.
While Scorsese didn’t specify the incident, he explained: “I began to realize the world is changing. It was early rock and roll and the old world was dying out. I became aware of life around me. Falling in love or being attracted to girls, not that you’re acting out on it, but there were these feelings, and I suddenly realized it’s much more complicated than this. You can’t shut yourself off.”
He concluded: “The idea of priesthood, to devote yourself to others, really, that’s what it’s about. I realized I don’t belong there. And I tried to stay, but they got my father in there, and they told him, ‘Get him out of here.’ Because I behaved badly.”
While best known for his films based in the world of organised crime, Martin Scorsese has directed some religious stories as well. In 1988, he made The Last Temptation Of Christ, a depiction of Jesus’ (Willem Dafoe) imagined personal struggles that drew criticism from Christian groups at the time.
He would also make 1997’s Kundun, based on the life of the 14th Dalai Lama, and 2016’s Silence, about the quest to find a missing Jesuit priest.
Mr. Scorsese airs on Apple TV+ on October 17.