When the film was first conceived in 1978,
Martin Scorsese originally planned to cast
Dan Aykroyd as Amsterdam Vallon and
John Belushi as Bill 'The Butcher' Cutting. However, the project fell apart after Belushi died. A cast reshuffle had
Mel Gibson as Amsterdam Vallon and
Willem Dafoe as The Butcher. Eventually,
Leonardo DiCaprio was cast as Amsterdam Vallon and
Daniel Day-Lewis was cast as The Butcher.
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