Martin Scorsese tries to justify why The Irishman’s main female character only has one line: ‘She doesn’t have to say anything’

Actor is almost completely silent over course of three-and-a-half-hour film

Martin Scorsese has attempted to justify why the main female character in The Irishman, played by Anna Paquin, only has one single line in the film.

The Irishman's cast is dominated by male actors, including Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Al Pacino and Stephen Graham.

Paquin, who plays the most notable female character in the three-and-a-half-hour movie, stars briefly as the adult version of Peggy Sheeran, the daughter of De Niro’s hitman Frank.

In a recent conversation with Spike Lee about the film on The Director’s Cut podcast, Scorsese talked about how he and screenwriter Steven Zaillian considered expanding Paquin’s character but ultimately decided against it.

“I kept asking Steve Zaillian if we could layer her in the story,” Scorsese said. “I decided that she doesn’t have to say anything.”

Referring to a scene in the film where Peggy witnesses Sheeran's violence, the director added: “You see your father do something like that, I’m sorry… You see him crush the guy’s hand like that… other kids maybe, but this kid couldn’t take it.

“She looks at him. She knows he’s up to something and Lucy was great, but Anna ultimately was amazing in the looks. She has one line in the film. There’s something you can’t talk about. She knows it. She knows who he is. He knows she knows.”

Scorsese recently drew criticism when he said he “doesn’t have time anymore” to write films led by female characters.

The Irishman, a gangster film that follows real-life Mafia hitman Frank Sheeran across several decades of his life, will have a limited theatrical release from 8 November before becoming available to stream on Netflix on 28 November.