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Jodie Foster has recalled how Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro "couldn't stop giggling" as they tried to talk her through a provocative scene in Taxi Driver.

The 63-year-old actress was just 13 years old when she played 12-year-old prostitute Iris in the classic film and she has recalled one particular memory that is still "seared in [her] memory" is the way her director and co-star struggled to keep their composure when trying to instruct her on unfastening De Niro's trousers.

Speaking alongside Scorsese, De Niro and Paul Schrader at the film's 50th anniversary reunion at the Tribeca Festival in Manhattan, Variety reports she said: "Marty was trying to explain to me how I was supposed to pull down [De Niro's] fly. They couldn't stop giggling, and Bob's like, 'I'm gonna tell her.' He would try to tell me what to do, and then he would start giggling.

"They couldn't give me a note because they were just so nervous that I was so young."

As the two men continued laughing, Jodie took charge of the scene.

She added: "And I was like, 'Well, you just want me to- okay, fine! First I pull down the fly, then I do this and I walk over there. What's the big deal?'"

Scorsese admitted he was impressed by Jodie's self-assurance from a young age, recalling her confidence when they met in the office before starting work on 1974 comedy Alice Doesn't Live Here Any More, as the then-11 year old made it clear she already had eight years of screen experience.

He recalled: "You just sat down [and said], 'Yeah, I can do that. Okay, I got it. No problem. 'What are you doing next?', 'Oh, I'm doing this other thing over at Disney.'

"She had an authority -- I'm not kidding -- an authority.

"She was really quite supportive, if you could put it that way, because it was a hard shoot."

The Silence of the Lambs actress recently expressed her belief she is currently doing the "best work" of her career.

She told Variety: "I think I'm doing the best work of my life. And the dirty little secret is that I've never worked less in terms of my energy output. I just do what I think, and then I drink a coffee."

Jodie wanted to "challenge Hollywood wisdom" during her 20s. However, her mom proved to be a really healthy influence on her career and the choices she made.

She said: "I was trusting a creative instinct, and she was giving me the Hollywood wisdom. I want to challenge Hollywood wisdom. She was guided by fear and convention. It was really clarifying, at 27, to say, I am not going to listen to your fears."

Jodie was always motivated by a desire to impress her own mom.

The movie star explained: "I loved her, and she was an amazing manager and a brilliant woman.

"But I was a vicarious instrument. She was a pre-feminist woman who would have loved to have been taken seriously, to have been doing important things that were not about her looks."

Despite this, Jodie recalls suffering her own identity crisis as she approached her 50th birthday.

She reflected: "That awkward moment between 50 and 60 is just crazy -- maybe it is for men too. You're like, wait, who am I? And am I supposed to be like I used to be, except kind of worse?"