Leonardo DiCaprio almost cast as James Dean in abandoned biopic
It’s been revealed that a 19-year-old Leonardo DiCaprio was nearly cast as James Dean after an “amazing screen test” for a biopic about the iconic actor. Director Michael Mann recently opened up about the “brilliant screenplay”, which he was supposed to direct before moving on to the 1995 film Heat. In the end, Mann abandoned the project, having deemed DiCaprio “too young” for the role.
Mann discussed the ill-fated project with Deadline: “That was so weird about James Dean. It was a brilliant screenplay. And then it’s who the hell could play James Dean? And I found a chap who could play James Dean, but he was too young. It was Leo. We did a screen test that’s quite amazing; I think he must’ve been 19 at the time”.
The director continued: “And from one angle, he totally had it with him. I mean, it’s brilliance. He would turn his face in one direction and we see a vision of James Dean, and then he’d turn his face another direction and it’s no, that’s a young kid. I found the absolutely perfect act of the play, in about three years from that. He respectfully undid the James Dean bio for me”.
Despite featuring in just three films – East of Eden, Rebel Without a Cause, and Giant – Dean was already one of Hollywood’s most celebrated young actors by the time he died in a car accident aged 24.
In a way, DiCaprio’s early success mirrored that of Dean’s. The young actor rose to fame in the 1990s, appearing in such films as 1993’s What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, 1Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 picture Romeo + Juliet, and James Cameron’s Titanic in 1997. His next role will be in Martin Scorsese’s forthcoming Killers of The Flower Moon, which arrives in cinemas next year.
Mann is currently working out the logistics of transforming his follow-up novel to Heat into a “large, ambitious movie”, which will take place before and after the original movie. “It’s totally planned to be a movie,” Mann said. “Is it a modest movie? No. Is it a very expensive series? No. It’s going to be one large movie”.
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