AceShowbiz -

The cast members of the 90s gangster film, "Goodfellas", celebrated its 25th anniversary at the Tribeca Film Festival on Saturday, April 25. The celebration involved the screening of the re-mastered version of the film at New York City's Beacon Theatre.

The event was attended by stars Robert De Niro, who is also Tribeca co-founder, Paul Sorvino, Ray Liotta and Lorraine Bracco. Also joining in the screening was Nicholas Pileggi, writer of "Wiseguy", from which the film was adapted. Unfortunately, Martin Scorsese, the director, could not attend the event because he's currently filming his upcoming movie, "Silence", in Taipei.

After the film was screened in front of thousands of fans, the moderator of the event, Jon Stewart, opened a discussion with the movie's stars. During the discussion, they recalled the filming process of the classic film.

Liotta revealed that Scorsese didn't want him to meet the real gangster who is portrayed by Liotta, Henry Hill. But when they finally met, it was surprising to know that Hill adored Liotta's performance and also thanked him as he portrayed the character very well.

Accoding to Pileggi, Scorsese was a perfectionist as he was never truly satisfied with his work. "We were at the Ziegfeld, I was sitting next to him, and he said, 'We should have cut that,' " Pileggi revealed. " 'Marty', I said, 'we're at the Ziegfeld, it's the opening of the movie, and the editing is over.' "

Sorvino who portrayed Paulie Cicero was asked how he got into character. "A lot of actors talk about choices, but the fact of the matter is when you find the spine of the character, it's kind of like an inhabitation, from which you might need an exorcism. And it makes all the decisions for you." But then he revealed that he was about to quit the project three days before the filming. "I am a poet, an opera singer, author, sculptor. None of it is gangster," the actor explained. "I was lost. And one day I was going to fix my tie and I saw this guy (referring to his image in the mirror), and I scared the hell out of me."

Meanwhile, De Niro opened up that he felt like that they were connected to each other even though they hadn't met for years. "We sometimes run into each other. What happens is, you see each other 10 or 15 years later, and it is as if the time has not passed. Because we got to know each other so well at an emotional or spiritual level; and it never goes away," he said.