Coppola won his first Oscar in 1971

The five-time Oscar-winner told GQ magazine they "all live off the fat of the land" and did not have ambition.

The 68-year-old maker of the Godfather trilogy said De Niro, one of his leading men, "never spends any money - he just puts it in his mattress".

He added Nicholson had a "mean streak" and was "a bit like Marlon Brando".

"He's intelligent, always wired with the big guys and the big bosses of the studios," said Coppola. "He was always kind of a joker."

De Niro was more likely to pursue an acting role that he was "hungry" for than Nicholson, whom the film director added had "money and influence and girls".

He's a little bit like Brando, except Brando went through some tough times Francis Ford Coppola on Jack Nicholson

He claimed Pacino always harboured ambitions to act in theatrical classics and added the actor once said: "Oh, I was raised next to a furnace in New York and I'm never going to go to Los Angeles."

The actor was Oscar-nominated for his peformances in the first two parts of The Godfather triology.

The film-maker compared the trio to younger actors, saying that they lack the conviction to get really stuck into a role.

"I don't feel that kind of passion to do a role and be great coming from these guys, because if it was there, they would do it.