mafioso

Scorsese grew up in New York’s Little Italy as a Catholic altar boy and aspiring priest who was also fascinated by the mafiosos that loomed large in his community.

“A mafioso is a human being who embodies the best of capitalism: greed,” Petro said.

"That's right out of a mafioso coming into a bar going, nice bar you have here, it'd be a shame if something happened to it," he added, using a mobster voice.

There’s a catch, a gimmick even, as De Niro stars opposite himself, playing both Frank Costello and Vito Genovese, two notorious real-life Italian American mafiosi who have inspired many movies and documentaries.

He was overheard telling an aspiring mafioso to go to school, meet doctors and lawyers, and learn lessons from watching The Godfather trilogy of films about the fictional Corleone gangster family.