Martin Scorsese shares a Goodfellas anecdote, impersonates Robert De Niro

The duo have worked together nine times over 43 years

(Getty)

Considering they've worked together nine times since 1973, Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro would probably make the perfect dinner party guests.

Appearing on Jimmy Fallon's chat show in the States, the director - promoting new HBO series Vinyl - not only provided audiences with an anecdote from the set of 1990 gangster classic Goodfellas but gave a "subtle" impression of his long-time friend in the process.

It started when Fallon asked the Wolf of Wall Street director if he can impersonate De Niro.

"I don't really do impressions of Bob...we kind of somehow - I'd like to think we've melted into each other in a way," he begins. "But there's one that I really like and it's from Goodfellas - it's become part of my mantra, in a sense."

He goes on to cite the scene where Frank Vincent's character Billy Batts mocks Joe Pesci's Tommy DeVito for being a shoeshine boy in his younger years, suggesting that Pesci himself got angry during filming.

"At that point, they have to pull Joe away from him, screaming, kicking, and Frank says, 'What the hell's the matter with him?' Can't he take a joke?'"

It's here where De Niro gets involved. Watch Scorsese retell the story below:

Scorsese first directed De Niro in Mean Streets before going on to work together on films including Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980), The King of Comedy (1983) and Casino (1995).

He directed the first episode of new HBO series Vinyl which follows a record executive in the Seventies music scene played by Bobby Cannavale. Scorsese also co-created the show alongside Mick Jagger, Rich Cohen and Boardwalk Empire's Terence Winter.