10 Mob Movie Actors Who Were Actually There

10. Robert De Niro - Mean Streets

One of the greatest actors of his generation, Robert De Niro announced himself as an inimitable screen presence with the first of many collaborations with filmmaker Martin Scorsese, 1973's Mean Streets. Scorsese's rich and violent tapestry of New York street life drew upon his own experiences growing up in Little Italy, an authenticity that was duly reflected on the screen, and aided by the casting of fellow New Yorkers who grew up in and around street crime as Scorsese did.

One such actor was Robert De Niro, who portrayed John Civello opposite Harvey Keitel's Charlie Cappa. De Niro, who was known to Scorsese before he started acting, immortalised himself instantly with the part. Just as Scorsese had drawn upon his own childhood growing up in Manhattan when crafting Mean Streets, so too, seemingly, had De Niro.

In a discussion with Vanity Fair published in 2014, Scorsese recounted the meeting that would lead to De Niro being cast in Mean Streets, recalling how he had recognised his would-be longtime collaborator from his days hanging around the Kenmare Gang on Hester Street. By the time Scorsese and De Niro had their reunion, it had been 14 years since they passed each other by on Hester Street - by which point both had established themselves in the film industry, and were poised to ignite a partnership that would define a decade of cinema.