Scorsese recalls first reading ‘Taxi Driver’ script ‘I knew who he is’

Martin Scorsese is reflecting on the enduring impact of Taxi Driver as the landmark film marks its 50th anniversary.

The 83-year-old director revisited the making of the 1976 classic during a Tribeca Festival conversation in New York City, joined by screenwriter Paul Schrader and actors Robert De Niro and Jodie Foster.

When asked what initially drew him to the project, Scorsese pointed to the strength of the screenplay and its central character, Travis Bickle.

“Purely the character and the writing of it. The script is so tight and so strong, and turning the pages ... each page is like a razor blade, you had to be very careful,” he said.

Scorsese added that the story immediately resonated with him on a personal and creative level.

“When he read the script, he found himself thinking, ‘I could do this.’” he recalled. “I said, I know this. I know who he is.”

The filmmaker also explained that his interest in Taxi Driver was shaped in part by his long-standing fascination with Russian literature, particularly Fyodor Dostoevsky’s works, including Notes from Underground, which also influenced Schrader’s screenplay.

Scorsese said he was drawn to Travis Bickle’s emotional state, describing the character’s inner turmoil in detail.

“His resentment, the anger, the grinding up of his insides, his humiliation, being insulted and humiliated — all of that came to me as I read Travis,” he said.

Robert De Niro, who starred as Bickle, also reflected on his connection to the character and the script. 

He said he immediately recognized something compelling in Schrader’s writing.

“There was something special about the way Paul had written it and the character,” De Niro said. “But I had no idea what impact the film would have.”

De Niro added that he identified with aspects of Bickle’s emotional isolation, noting the complexity of portraying the disaffected taxi driver whose mental state unravels during night shifts in New York City.

The Tribeca conversation also highlighted the film’s lasting cultural legacy, with the cast and creators revisiting one of cinema’s most influential collaborations.

Taxi Driver, which also starred Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Harvey Keitel, Peter Boyle, Leonard Harris, and Albert Brooks, has remained a defining work in Scorsese’s career and in American film history.