Billy Crystal Recalls Being Taught by Martin Scorsese at NYU: ‘He Was Very Scary’

Mar. 15, 2025

Billy Crystal (left) and Martin Scorsese.Photo:Stefanie Keenan/Getty; Steve Granitz/FilmMagic

Stefanie Keenan/Getty; Steve Granitz/FilmMagic

Billy Crystalis reminiscing about being a student under the legendaryMartin Scorsese.

“I was in film school here [at NYU], and Martin Scorsese was my film production professor,” Crystal said. “He was a graduate student at the time, just doing his first movie, calledWho’s That Knocking at My Door. And it was 1968, 1969, 1970.”

“And [he] had a big beard and granny glasses and hair down to his shoulders. He looked like everybody,” the comedian joked, noting that Scorsese, 82, was an intimidating presence. “He’d stand behind you while you were editing your film and he would be very scary, because he would look and he was so intense and he would speak very quickly — even then — he spoke quicker then because he was, you know, 50 years younger.”

“And he’d go, ‘Why’d you shoot it that way? Use a wide shot! Howard Hawks always used a wide shot.’ I said, ‘I’m 19 — I don’t know who Howard Hawks is!’ “ Crystal recalled, prompting Geist, 49, to laugh out loud.

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Crystal also said that even after all this time, Scorsese still feels like the exact same person, noting “it’s the same energy” when he sees him.

Billy Crystal on season 2 of ‘SOAP’ in 1979.ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

During the conversation, theWhen Harry Met Sallystar also reflected on what it was like living in New York City’s West Village at the height of the counter-culture movement.

“This neighborhood was wild," he remembered. “It was a terrible time for America, but a great time at the same time. ‘Cause all of that adversity and all of the protesting against the Vietnam War. It brought us together … What came out of it was a renaissance in music, in poetry, in art — that we’re still feeling today.”

“Suddenly there were voices,” he continued. “There wasJoan Baez, there was[Bob] Dylan, there was the Grateful Dead. All of that world was like right here.”

Billy Crystal doing standup in 1986.Paul Natkin/WireImage

Paul Natkin/WireImage

Both Crystal and Scorsese went on to have massive careers in acting and directing, respectively.

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Crystal hasgone on to winsix Emmys and a Tony. He has hosted the Oscars nine times, authored multiple books and won the 2007 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. He was also honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 27th Annual Critics Choice Awards in 2022. Scorsese’s films, meanwhile, have received 20 cumulative Oscar nominations over the course of his epic career, perScreen Rant.

source: people.com