 Originally, Jack Nicholson (qv) turned down his role in the movie,  but after a meeting with Martin Scorsese (qv) and  Leonardo DiCaprio (qv), he was finally convinced to play the role  of Frank Costello. The main reason he joined the production was  because he had previously done a few comedies, and wanted to play a  villain again, and he considered the character of Costello to be the  ultimate incarnation of evil.