The actor Leonardo DiCaprio called the second coming of James Dean: “He was the manifestation”
James Dean rode into the 1950s almost as quickly as he drove out of it, blazing through the post-war era with a bad boy attitude, just a rebel without a cause who managed to set the hearts of boys and girls across the nation on fire. He was the epitome of cool, and his influence has echoed through generations that have emerged in his wake, becoming a symbol used by many artists as a cultural reference.
“Blue jeans, white shirt,” Lana Del Rey sings in ‘Blue Jeans’, describing a man who was “like James Dean, for sure.”
Everyone from Lou Reed to Taylor Swift has immortalised the actor in popular culture, making him one of the most indelible American images, a figure of living fast and dying young. He was a popular teen idol, practically becoming the first in a long line of heartthrobs which would come to include Leonardo DiCaprio. The actor was an inescapable cinematic presence in the 1990s, capturing the attention of fans across the world with roles in movies like Romeo + Juliet and Titanic, his floppy blonde hair and boyish face defining an era.
Before DiCaprio truly became a heartthrob, however, there was another actor who dominated the industry as a teen idol, with whom the Oscar winner would come to work with on the 2019 film Once Upon A Time in Hollywood by Quentin Tarantino. Luke Perry, who sadly passed away shortly before the movie was released, had won hearts in the early 1990s with his role in the teen show Beverly Hills, 90120, which DiCaprio remembered well from emerging in the industry at the same time, just a few years younger than his future co-star.
Talking to Entertainment Weekly, Tarantino compared the actor to Dean, recalling his time shooting with the late star: “I was immediately struck by his kindness. And talking about being a native of Los Angeles, being around this industry my entire life, and really having it in a lot of ways shape who I am, there was this immediate excitement in seeing Luke Perry on set.”
Adding: “I remember being in my teens, and he was the manifestation of the new Dean on television, and everyone was crazy about him. And I felt this overwhelming feeling of being star-struck. Then he and I got to sit down and talk about Los Angeles, the ’90s, his life, where his career had gone, where my career had gone, where his life had gone, where my life…and I was just so, how do I say this, the kindness of his character, I don’t know, it really affected me. When I heard that news, it was really heartbreaking.”
Perry died at the age of 52 following a stroke, leaving behind a prolific filmography, including many unforgettable television credits. While Perry wasn’t as prominent in the movie world as TV, he was cast in Once Upon A Time in Hollywood… as Wayne Maunder, an actor who stars in a western show, because Tarantino knew that Perry, a diehard western fan, was perfect for the role. It proved to be a great performance, with producer Shannon McIntosh calling the part “a bucket list” moment for the actor.
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