Terry Gross

So subscribe at whyy.org slash fresh air and look for an email from Molly every Saturday morning.

So I want to focus a little on Taxi Driver since next month marks the 50th anniversary of its release.

So let's start with a clip.

Amazing.

Yeah.

And this is an example of your mother being brilliant in accepting the part for you and of being controversial because she accepted the part for you.

Because you play a 12-year-old and you were 12 when you shot this.

And you are what would then be called a prostitute and today a sex worker who has a pimp played by Harvey Keitel.

And Robert De Niro plays Travis Bickle, the taxi driver.

And De Niro sees this.

And so he wants to buy some time with you to save you.

He kind of has a savior complex.

so here's a scene where you know he has tried to talk with you and rescue you take him away from the pimp but you don't want to be rescued so he ends up taking you to a diner he's trying to convince you to go back home be with your parents and live just live a better life and um you speak first why do you want me to go back to my parents i mean they hate me why do you think i split in the first place

I think Paul Schrader doesn't ever get quite enough credit for writing this.

I mean, people who really know movies think he's made terrific movies, but Scorsese did a brilliant job directing it, but Paul Schrader did a brilliant job writing it.

You know, God's Lonely Man and all of Travis's monologues.

Did you get to talk to Schrader about the screenplay?

That's funny because it's like you can play a prostitute who's 12 years old in the movie, but don't talk to the person who wrote this.

How did your mother feel about playing a 12-year-old sex worker?

And how did you feel about it?