The 1992 co-star who “tortured” Leonardo DiCaprio: “I really did”
The way the industry is supposed to work is that older actors will take younger co-stars under their wing to show them the ropes and offer some form of mentorship. Unless you’re a fresh-faced Leonardo DiCaprio, in which case you’ll be subjected to torture.
He obviously didn’t let it get to him, since the relative newcomer delivered an impeccable performance that spotlighted him as having the potential to become one of his generation’s defining stars, a prophecy that was fulfilled and continues being fulfilled to this day.
Tough love is part and parcel of many walks of life, but bringing your baggage into the workplace and taking those frustrations out on a teenager could be called a questionable approach to professionalism at best. Then again, this is Johnny Depp we’re talking about, who’s never been celebrated as easy to deal with.
Not that he was a grizzled veteran at the time, either, with Depp 29 years old when the cameras started rolling on What’s Eating Gilbert Grape in November 1992. However, he was still a Golden Globe nominee with a decade of experience in film and television, whereas DiCaprio only turned 18 less than two weeks after shooting had started.
The latter poured himself into the part of Arnie Grape, dedicating hundreds of hours of research to his performance, only for him to discover that when he got to the set, Depp was in a foul mood for reasons even he couldn’t explain, which inspired him to take those frustrations out on his young co-star.
“It was a hard time for me, that film, for some reason, I don’t know why,” the deposed A-lister reflected. When it came to his offscreen relationship with DiCaprio, Depp couldn’t be faulted for his honesty, even if it suggests the atmosphere wasn’t overly friendly: “I tortured him. I really did.”
The exuberance of youth seemed to be one of his major bugbears, with the eventual Academy Award nominee having the temerity to be interested in things that teenagers were interested in. “He was always talking about these video games, you know?” Depp remembered. “I told you, it was kind of a dark period. ‘No, I will not give you a drag of my cigarette while you hide from your mother again, Leo.'”
That doesn’t sound like torture, so you get the sneaking suspicion that there was much more the exiled Pirates of the Caribbean headliner was unwilling to divulge. After all, stories have circulated around Depp for decades that he can often be a bit of a nightmare on set, and if you’re in a bad mood already, being constantly hounded and pestered by a kid might cause you to snap.
They made for an excellent pairing in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, even if DiCaprio deservedly stole most of the performative plaudits, but it certainly sounds like things weren’t quite as rosy behind the scenes.
