10 Movie Directors Who Cast Actors As Cinematic Versions Of Themselves

Much can be said about Martin Scorsese - he's Italian, he's a film nerd, his films are often bleak, blunt and profanity-laced - but most of all, he's Catholic.

Far be it from this writer to distinguish or joke about the differences between Jewish guilt and Catholic guilt, but since the filmmaker's Mean Streets, it's been as much a staple of his characters as the F-word.

Equally important - and what perhaps attracts the director to secret criminal organizations, is family. Even on a coke-fuelled binge, Goodfellas sees Ray Liotta's gangster selling illegal firearms as important as keeping the tomato sauce properly stirred for a big family dinner.

How Catholic is Martin Scorsese? His debut, Boxcar Bertha, sees a character crucified on the side of a train. So it comes as a surprise that The Last Temptation of Christ was met with such hatred and controversy, as who better to tell an earnest tale about the trials of Jesus Christ than a man of devout faith?

The director's own OCD is also heavily featured, particularly in biopics like The Aviator. Be it De Niro, DiCaprio or Liotta, you're going to find a guilty man desperate for a loving family in a Martin Scorsese film.

It's why his seeming farewell to the mob genre (spoilers) ends the way it does, with an ageing De Niro alone; his only wish for someone from his family to come pay a visit.