The actors had a lot of leeway in how the character presented themselves to the audience, Joe Pesci changing his character, Nicky Santoro, insisting he have more depth than what was in the police depositions. If there was one thing that he plotted meticulously, it was the music, keeping a chart on his office wall during the shoot to plan out musical segues, staging scenes around the eclectic soundtrack. Scorsese all along approached it less as a drama than a documentary, letting the actors get a gist of the characters and then allow them to riff on it as they felt like. The film was shot fast and loose, with the cast trusting that the editing would pull all the pieces together. The colorful mafia characters always being their own worst enemy, taking one too many risks for the sake of money. The director, actors, producers, editor, and screenwriter choosing to carry on the same path as that of Goodfellas, but in an entirely different universe in Vegas far from that of the Henry Hill character in New Jersey. However, a straight sequel was never seriously considered. Related: Martin Scorsese Is Making Another Movie About Jesus Because The Pope Asked for It The film is intended to be excessive and vulgar, veering from emotional tone to tone. The mob culture influenced not just the characters but how he filmed the movie, full of tangents and anecdotes, in and of themselves not crucial to the plot, which Scorsese openly admits were self-indulgent. Scorsese framed it rather as a battle of egos, the “brains and brawn” unable to maintain the necessary balance to keep a lucrative racket going. Casino represented “the top of the mob world,” as Pileggi called it, while Goodfellas was the middle class, suburban stage of mob success.

Casino 1995 director's cut