This actor met Stallone twice… 36 years ago, he refused to film for Scorsese

The eldest of the Roberts siblings, whose younger sister is none other than Julia, Eric Roberts has had a less illustrious career than his sister. There’s always a tendency to reduce one’s filmography to a litany of B, or even frankly Z, movies meant to pay the bills.

But he has largely proven that he can be a great actor, such as his absolutely captivating performance in Star 80, Bob Fosse’s last film, or Runaway Train, one of the best action movies ever made. In Nolan, he played Salvatore Maroni, the Baron of the Underworld, the Dark Knight. Finally, fans of action movies will know him for having met Sylvester Stallone on screen twice: The Expert (1994) and the first Expendables (2010).

At the age of 68, the actor recently published his memoirs. Runaway Train: or the Story of My Life HithertoStill unpublished here. In an extract published by user ofHe recalls an interesting anecdote. He thinks Martin Scorsese is still mad at him for turning down the role of Jesus in his 1988 film The Last Temptation of Christ. The role that Willem Dafoe will eventually play.

“You got my attention”

“When Marty Scorsese asked me to play Jesus in The Last Temptation, I thought, ‘Here’s my chance to break out of the stereotypical roles and work with a master.’

We had about five auditions and the coolest screen test I’ve ever done with Harvey Keitel. Harvey is an especially good actor for other actors to audition for or work with. Scorsese offered me the role, but, dear reader, on the advice of my manager, I turned it down.

Roberts continues his reflection: “It’s hard to believe now, but that comment made sense at the time. Treusch He explained that playing Jesus was a curse. I don’t know if he was right or not, but my rejection of the role destroyed any relationship I could have had with Scorsese.

Christ’s last temptation was his baby after he was a film student! He thought he found his Jesus in me, so when I turned him down, he got angry, and I don’t blame him.” We’ll just have to wait for a possible Scorsese version of Eric Roberts’ comments to balance the viewpoint.

Eric Roberts’ agent still had a hollow nose, remembering what it was like to produce the film, under very high tension. The film was indeed a station of the cross for the filmmaker, even before the film’s release, as he was subject to pressure from fundamentalist Catholic circles and rare violence.

Paramount Pictures, which was originally slated to produce the film, abandoned the project in the open air, causing filming to cease in 1983. The film wasn’t made until four years later, under the auspices of Universal, with a brutal budget revised downwards.