Los Angeles, May 15 (IANS): Actor George Clooney has revealed that that he was banned from watching “Taxi Driver” as a teenager.

While actress-filmmaker Jodie Foster was earning her first Oscar nomination at the age of 13 for “Taxi Driver”, Clooney, around 15 at the time, wasn't even allowed to watch the R-rated movie, he shared, reports people.com.

"I wasn't allowed to see that one. She was allowed to be in it, but I wasn't allowed to watch it," Clooney said in an interview for the new issue of Entertainment Weekly.

The explicit violence in “Taxi Driver” was considered controversial when it was released in 1976. Director Martin Scorsese has since revealed the MPAA originally gave the film an 'X' rating, before scenes were altered to appear less gory.

And while Foster, 12 at the time of filming, played a young prostitute, filmmakers went through great lengths to protect the actress from the explicit dialogue and action. After she was cast, and her mother signed off, producers had to get approval from the Los Angeles welfare board before she could start work.

Clooney stars in the Foster-directed “Money Monster”.