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Leonardo DiCaprio is one of the greatest actors alive today, and just as impressive as the list of his most famous roles is the list of films in which he refused to act.
Although he often fills the tabloids with his love life, Leonardo is above all a fantastic actor – for some, one of the greatest actors of our time, who has delighted in his roles since his acting firsts, such as significant firsts. in the film "What's Eating Gilbert Grape", in which he starred with Johnny Depp when he was only 19 years old.
"Titanic", "Catch Me If You Can", "The Aviator", "The Wolf of Wall Street" and "Shutter Island" are just some of the main titles in which he played the main roles, but although the list of films in which he has acted is impressive and the list of big projects he has turned down is long.
Furthermore, in a recent interview with 'GQ', Leo's co-star Christian Bale joked that many actors, including himself, owe their careers to DiCaprio because they got the roles that made them famous. only because Leo rejected them.
“To this day, every role someone gets is only because Leonardo turned it down in advance… So thank you, Leo, because literally, he gets to choose everything he does. And good for him, he's phenomenal," commented Bale.
Following are some of the roles Leo famously turned down during his career:
Leonardo DiCaprio turned down the lead role of Patrick Bateman in American Psycho, despite the studio's insistence that he play the role. In fact, they loved him so much that when director Mary Harron finished the script and gave the role to Christian Bale, the studio chose Leonard over him and Harron was removed from the director's role.
DiCaprio eventually turned down the role after falling out with the new director and Mary was reinstated. She gave Bailey the leading role as planned, and it was one of the most famous and brilliant he ever played. Some fans of the film even believe that Christian saved the film from the softer approach that could easily have happened with Leonardo in the lead role.
In 2014, Leonardo told him Variety that he turned down an incredibly high offer to play Max in the 1993 cult classic so he could have a chance to star in "What's Eating Gilbert Grape," even though he wasn't even on board, let alone win. Incidentally, "Hocus Pocus" earned $45.4 million at the box office when it was released in 1993, and at the time Leonardo seemed to regret turning down the role. "I don't know where the hell I got the courage," he later commented.
Leonardo was approached for the role of Peter Parker in the movie 'Spider-Man', but he turned down the opportunity, saying that he just wasn't ready to don the superhero suit yet.
The role eventually went to his best friend Tobey McGuire, who was a huge boost to his career. Leonardo said he hasn't ruled out playing a superhero one day, but so far he hasn't accepted a role for either.
Leonardo also turned down the role of Robin in 1995's 'Batman Forever.' Although he noted that Joel Schumacher was a talented director, he never auditioned for the role because, like the role in 'Spider-Man ', he has not yet felt that he is ready for such a thing. Instead, the role went to Chris O'Donnell, and Leonardo decided to star in three smaller films that year, The Basketball Diaries, The Gunman, and Total Eclipse.
Keanu Reeves landed the role of Neo in 'The Matrix', but only after Leonardo DiCaprio passed up his chance. The role was offered to other big names such as Brad Pitt, Sandra Bullock and Will Smith, and Leonardo stated that he did not want to make another film with visual effects so soon after 'Titanic' as the reason for turning down the role. This movie ended up earning an incredible $467.2 million at the box office.
Although Leonardo DiCaprio admitted he sat down in a meeting with George Lucas to discuss playing the adult Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, he said he was simply not interested in the role. Instead, the role went to actor Hayden Christensen, and that year Leonardo decided to accept roles in Spielberg's Catch Me If You Can and Scorsese's Gangs of New York.
Leonardo DiCaprio was also asked for the role of Tom Ripley in Anthony Minghella's film, "The Talented Mr. Ripley", based on Patricia Highsmith's 1995 novel. Instead, the role went to Matt Damon because Leonardo decided to turn down the role and starred in the film "The Beach" directed by Danny Boyle. "The Talented Mr. Ripley" was later nominated for five Oscars and earned $128.8 million at the box office, but "The Beach" remained a huge hit and a turning point for Leo's post-Titanic career.
Leonardo DiCaprio was seen by many as the top choice for the role of Steve Jobs in the 2014 biopic based on Walter Isaacson's novel. However, The Hollywood Reporter stated at the time that "after DiCaprio finishes 'The Revenant' ... he plans to take an extended break from acting." By the way, Leonardo himself has admitted to 'Wired' that every day of this film has been difficult.
"It was the hardest film I've ever done," he said, and his decision to take a break from acting opened the door for Michael Fassbender, who eventually accepted the role, and the film was released the same year as The Revenant for which Leonardo was finally awarded his long-deserved Oscar. /KP/
