Although Martin Scorsese is perhaps most notable for his crime films, another theme he likes to explore is religion. Raised in a predominantly Catholic environment, religion influenced his sense of craft, with "Mean Streets," "Raging Bull," "Goodfellas, "Casino," and "The Departed," among others, featuring characters grappling with their religious convictions. However, some of Scorsese's movies have explored spirituality on a deeper level, among them "The Last Temptation of Christ," "Kundun," and his underrated
2016 drama "Silence."
Based on the 1966 novel of the same name by Japanese author Shūsaku Endō, "Silence" is set in the 17th century and follows two Jesuit priests, Sebastião Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield) and Francisco Garupe (Adam Driver), as they travel from Portugal to Japan to find their mentor, Cristóvão Ferreira (Liam Neeson), while spreading Christianity throughout the region. A longtime passion project for Scorsese, this film was his follow-up to perhaps his most profane and explicit movie, "The Wolf of Wall Street." It ultimately took almost 30 years for "Silence" to get made, with various actors being attached to it at different stages. That includes non other than three-time Academy Award winner Daniel Day-Lewis.
Read more: All 12 Christopher Nolan Movies, Ranked From Worst To Best
Why Daniel Day-Lewis Departed Silence
Martin Scorsese first read Shūsaku Endō's "Silence" in 1989 while in Japan for his role as Vincent van Gogh in Akira Kurosawa's film "Dreams." He eventually bought the film rights to the book and began looking to cast actors for the project in the late 2000s. Gael García Bernal and Benicio del Toro were both in negotiations to play Sebastião Rodrigues and Francisco Garupe, respectively, while Daniel Day-Lewis was in talks to play Cristóvão Ferreira. This would have been Day-Lewis' third collaboration with Scorsese, with the pair having previously worked together on "The Age of Innocence" and "Gangs of New York" (the latter of which landed Day-Lewis an Oscar nod for his performance therein). However, the project soon after found itself stuck in development hell, with Scorsese hard at work on his movies "Shutter Island," "Hugo," and "The Wolf of Wall Street."
In the end, Bernal, del Toro, and Day-Lewis all ended up leaving "Silence," and by the time production was gearing up to begin, they had been replaced by Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver, and Liam Neeson, respectively. As intriguing as it would've been to see the original three in their roles, their replacements brought the story in Scorsese's picture to life in an incredibly raw, powerful way. Neeson was quite strong, but Garfield and Driver, in particular, stood out thanks to their work. This also allowed the pair to further distance themselves from their efforts on, respectively, the "Amazing Spider-Man" and "Star Wars" films, which had made them into recognizable faces amongst the general moviegoing public. Now, they had been given the chance to showcase their skills under the direction of one of our greatest living filmmakers.
Daniel Day-Lewis And Liam Neeson Have Replaced Each Other In Other Projects As Well
Liam Neeson may have replaced Daniel Day-Lewis in Martin Scorsese's "Silence," but years prior, Day-Lewis had replaced Neeson in one of the most fascinating casting what-ifs of the century. When Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln" was still in development, Neeson was cast in the titular role and set to work studying the history of the 16th U.S. president extensively. However, Neeson ultimately dropped out of the project, feeling he had become too old to play the role by the time the movie was actually ready to enter production. Day-Lewis was thereafter cast as his replacement and wound up landing his third Best Actor Oscar for the film.
Neeson, of course, had previously had the opportunity to work with Spielberg, having played Oskar Schindler in the filmmaker's Best Picture winner "Schindler's List" (for which he received a Best Actor Oscar nod, losing to Tom Hanks for his performance in "Philadelphia"). Similarly, as was mentioned earlier, Day-Lewis had already worked with Scorsese twice by the time he left "Silence." Not only that, but he and Neeson actually shared the screen in "Gangs of New York" to boot. All's well that ends well, you might say.
Neeson's latest film, "The Naked Gun," is now playing in theaters. You can read /Film's glowing review for the comedy here.
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