(Credits: Far Out / Netflix)
Sun 11 January 2026 19:45, UK
Martin Scorsese and Paul Schrader have been friends and collaborators for over 50 years, but you’d think that friendship may have been pushed to the limit when the former’s dog ate the latter’s thumb.
It sounds like something out of a comedy movie, but according to the screenwriter and filmmaker, it happened. They’ve weathered plenty of ups and downs during a personal and professional relationship that’s often been tumultuous, but thumb-eating was the strangest by far.
As creative partners, they’ve remained separate since 1999’s Bringing Out the Dead. By then, Schrader had established himself as a director in his own right, and they made the mutual decision to part when they both realised “there were now two directors in the room, and with Marty, there could only be one.”
Schrader’s first film with Scorsese was only his second credited screenplay, with Taxi Driver becoming one of the definitive films of its era. When they reunited, Raging Bull also became one of the definitive films of its era, and while their third picture together, The Last Temptation of Christ, may not have hit those heights, the controversy that followed the biblical epic made it the most talked-about.
Neither of them is bitter about going their separate ways, with Schrader going on to enjoy a solid-if-largely-unspectacular stint behind the camera, with the highs of Blue Collar, First Reformed, and The Card Counter being joined by the lows of Dying of the Light, The Canyons, and Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist.
Of course, Scorsese remains Scorsese, one of the greatest directors in the industry, and of all time. He might want to think twice about where he keeps his canine companions when he’s got guests over, though, since Schrader went over expecting dinner and left with a missing appendage.
When asked by Variety why he was sporting a hefty, blood-stained bandage, the explanation was one that nobody could have predicted. “So, on Tuesday night, I had dinner with Marty at his place,” Schrader shared. “He has these dogs. They were very cute. Two of them were bichon frisé. They’re very beautiful.”
Unfortunately for him, the Scorsese clan has another. “He has a Scottie, which is a problematic dog,” the Academy Award nominee continued. “It was his daughter’s dog. He doesn’t like the dog, but they have to keep him and blah, blah, blah.” He tried to pet the troublemaking four-legged friend, and it didn’t go well.
“The Scottie not only took out part of my thumb, he ate it,” Schrader declared, to understandable astonishment. He didn’t require a trip to the emergency room because, for whatever reason, “Marty has an in-house nurse” who immediately tended to the writer and filmmaker’s sudden lack of all ten digits. Dinner dates aren’t for everyone, and in this case, he’d have been better off staying at home.
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