Eric Roberts Reveals Why He Thinks Martin Scorsese Holds a Grudge Against Him

Eric Roberts thinks that Martin Scorsese might be holding a grudge against him.

Roberts is a professional actor known for starring in movies such as 1978’s King of the Gypsies, 1985’s Runaway Train, 2008’s The Dark Knight, and many more. He recently published a memoir — Runaway Train: Or, The Story of My Life So Far — which is now available to purchase on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, local bookstores, and more.

An excerpt from the book, shared on X by @JFrankensteiner, reveals that Roberts believes Scorsese holds a grudge against him after Roberts turned down an offer to star as Jesus in 1988’s The Last Temptation of Christ.

Why does Eric Roberts think Martin Scorsese holds a grudge against him?

“When I was asked by Marty Scorsese to audition for the role of Jesus in The Last Temptation of Christ, I thought, Here’s my chance to break out of the straitjacket of typecasting — and work with a master. We had about five auditions and the coolest screen test I’ve ever had, with Harvey Keitel. Harvey’s an especially good actor for other actors to audition or work with. Scorsese offered me the part, but, Reader, on the advice of my manager, I turned it down.”

Roberts explained of his reasoning, “It’s hard to believe now, but that comment made sense to me at the time. Treusch explained that playing Jesus was a king of curse. I don’t know if he was onto something or not, but my turning down the part destroyed the relationship I might have had with Scorsese. Last Temptation was his baby from the time he was a film student! He thought he’d found his Jesus in me, so when I turned it down, he got pissed off, and I don’t blame him.”

Roberts said that he auditioned for the movie because he “wanted to come to [Scorsese’s] attention.” When he told Scorsese this, Scorsese said, “You came to my attention.”

“I could’ve been in other movies with him, I’m sure, had I played Jesus in Last Temptation,” Roberts continued. “But he offered me his baby and I said no, and I that was f***** up. The movies we could have made together! Damn. I think he holds a grudge against me to this day.”