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Francesca Scorsese is following in her legendary father’s footsteps, making her Fox Nation directorial debut with an episode of “Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints.”
Each episode of “The Saints” will focus on figures who shaped Christianity around the world — beginning with Saint Patrick on Nov. 16.
The younger Scorsese — a budding filmmaker and social media influencer — directed the story of the newly canonized Saint Carlo Acutis, the boy dubbed “God’s Influencer.” It will be the final episode of the second season to air in December, with more episodes expected next Easter.
Francesca Scorsese discussed the episode Monday after the second season of her father’s Fox Nation series premiered at the Whitby Hotel in midtown Manhattan. During a candid conversation with Martin Scorsese and executive producer Matti Leshem, the 25-year-old said her father’s faith — and bedtime Bible stories — helped inspire her passion to tell such an important story.
MARTIN SCORSESE SAYS HIS NEW FOX NATION SERIES ‘THE SAINTS’ WAS A STORY HE ALWAYS WANTED TO TELL
“I was raised Christian, and I was, you know, baptized, confirmed. I had my communion and everything. And I think I was a lot more religious when I was younger. I would pray every night,” she said.
“He used to read me the Bible,” she continued, referring to her father. “It was like a bedtime story.”
Martin Scorsese chimed in to inform the crowd they were versions of the Bible specifically meant for children, and, eventually, his curious daughter began asking questions he couldn’t answer.
The Francesca Scorsese-directed fourth episode of the upcoming season tells the story of the newest saint, Saint Carlo Acutis, who was born in 1991 and died in 2006. He used computers and digital platforms to express his faith to the masses — which would help guide him through an unimaginable bout with leukemia.
EXCLUSIVE: CARLO ACUTIS’ MOTHER ON HIS CANONIZATION AND HOW THE FIRST MILLENNIAL SAINT CHANGED HER LIFE
Francesca, who boasts more than 400,000 followers on TikTok, explained that Saint Carlo Acutis’ use of technology and the internet added to her desire to tell his story.
“He spread his faith through his websites, and social media is a very scary place, and it can be very dark, you know? And I think it’s interesting that he sort of used it as a way for good and to inspire,” she said.
“That was his way of spreading his faith and inspiring others,” she continued. “I thought it was really beautiful.”
Francesca Scorsese spent a month in Rome shooting the episode and admitted it was “a little intimidating” to work with her iconic father.
“I felt like it was kind of a homework assignment. I had to turn it in at the end of the day and see, you know, if I got any good feedback,” she said.
“I did a lot of preparation. I storyboarded everything,” she continued. “It was really, really cool to see all that come to light and actually, like, on the screen in front of me.”
Francesca said working with her father — who was not on the Italian set but regularly checked in via FaceTime — wasn’t always easy, and showing him the episode for the first time juiced her anxiety.
“I kept looking at him. He sat in the back… like, in the shadows,” she said. “It was awful.”
Martin Scorsese agreed with his daughter and said it’s always “a terrible experience” to show a film for the first time. Luckily for everyone involved, the Academy Award-winning director came away more than pleased with his daughter’s Fox Nation directorial debut.
“There’s something about the meditative nature of the Carlo episode. Especially the second half of it. I was very pleased to see how you were specifically framing the characters by that point. It wasn’t frantic in any way,” he told Francesca.
“The pace was very spiritual, I felt,” he continued. “The framing… I was very pleased by that.”
MARTIN SCORSESE UNRAVELS ST MARY MAGDALENE’S COMPLEX LEGACY IN SERIES FINALE OF ‘THE SAINTS’
Earlier this year, Fox News Media chief digital and marketing officer Jason Klarman acknowledged there was high demand for more episodes of Scorsese’s show.
“It was evident our subscribers wanted more, and we delivered,” Klarman said in a press release on the announcement of the show’s second season. “We’re thrilled to welcome back Mr. Scorsese for season two of ‘The Saints.’ It truly has been a remarkable partnership.”
To catch up on the record-breaking series, the full first season of “Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints” is now streaming on Fox Nation.
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Fox News Digital’s Benji Ferraro contributed to this report.
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