Martin Scorsese considered becoming a priest

Speaking in Rebecca Miller's new documentary Mr. Scorsese, the Taxi Driver filmmaker said: "There was a prepartory seminary, and that was on 85th Street somewhere. I did okay for the first few months, but something happened.

"I began to realise the world is changing. It was early rock and roll and the old world was dying out. I became aware of life around me. Falling in love or being attracted to girls; not that you're acting out on it, but there were these feelings, and I suddenly realised it's much more complicated than this. You can't shut yourself off."

Scorsese soon realised that the priesthood wasn't for him and those in charge at the school got his father to remove him for his bad behaviour.

The 82-year-old director said: "The idea of priesthood, to devote yourself to others, really, that's what it's about. I realised I don't belong there. And I tried to stay but they got my father in there and they told him, 'Get him out of here.' Because I behaved badly."

Although the Goodfellas helmer doesn't add anything on his bad behaviour, his childhood friend Joe Morale revealed that the director "had a heavy eye for the ladies" during his teenage years.

Scorsese previously revealed how he "wasn't so great" at being an altar boy at the Basilica of St. Patrick's Old Cathedral in New York City as a child because he found it difficult to wake up in time for the first service of the day.

He told People magazine: "I wasn't so great at it. It was very hard for me to be there on time for the 7:00 Mass. I would always be late. The priest had to say, 'You can't go on like this.'"

Despite this, Scorsese's time with the church left a lasting impression and he was particularly fascinated by the saints.

The Last Temptation of Christ director said: "Who are these people? And why are they elevated, so to speak, to something special, sainthood?

"Were these saints human? As a young person, you thought maybe they were more than human, and that's something I've been fascinated by since that time."