This iconic dinner scene in Goodfellas was almost completely improvised. Scorsese cast his own mother, Catherine Scorsese, to play the mother and gave her just one direction: “Act motherly.” Her natural performance and authentic Italian-American presence bring warmth and humor, making the family moments feel incredibly real. Goodfellas is a masterpiece of storytelling, blending the intensity of mob life with rich, lived-in details like this. Scenes like this show Scorsese’s genius for capturing