The role that brought Leonardo DiCaprio’s career full circle: “So very special to me”
Long before he was a Hollywood elder statesman, Leonardo DiCaprio was a young nobody just like everybody else. His very first film credit was in Critters 3, a direct-to-video horror sequel that is only famous for being Leo’s debut. He really broke through with his role What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? Starring alongside Johnny Depp, DiCaprio plays Arnie, a young boy with a mental disability. This sort of casting would never happen today, but objectively, the performance is absolutely stunning.
Over the next few decades, the babyfaced star went from strength to strength. He played many more iconic roles, won an Oscar (finally), and worked with a range of top-name directors, including Martin Scorsese. The two have made six feature films together, with another on the way. Naturally, this also put DiCaprio into the orbit of another Scorsese favourite, Robert de Niro. The two have only worked together on one project for the acclaimed filmmaker, however, that being 2023’s Killers of the Flower Moon.
Based on a true story of a murderous scheme to steal money from the Osage Nation, Killers of the Flower Moon cast DiCaprio as Ernest Burkhart, a snivelling wimp who marries an Osage woman (Lily Gladstone) for her fortune. De Niro plays William King Hale, a local businessman and Ernest’s uncle. He is the one who puts his nephew up to the plan while he poses as a friend to the Native community.
The movie was almost unanimously praised upon its release, but for one of its stars, it meant more than box office receipts and critical reviews. “My career was launched by doing This Boy’s Life, auditioning with Bob and then getting the role,” DiCaprio told Deadline. “Working with him, watching his professionalism and the way he created his character was one of the most influential experiences of my life and career. It got me to do all these films with Marty and now, 30 years later, all of us getting to work together and collaborate, it’s such an incredible and special experience for me. Those are my cinematic heroes. It is so very special to me.”
This Boy’s Life was the first film DiCaprio made to get a cinematic release. He plays Tobias Wolff, a young man who lives in fear of his mother’s new boyfriend. This is Dwight Hansen, played by none other than Robert ‘Bob’ De Niro. The older actor has spoken about how blown away he was by a young Leo’s performance, predicting big things for him. Oh, how little he knew.
The two Italian-American dynamos would cross paths again on the set of 1996’s Marvin’s Room. De Niro plays a doctor working with a woman with leukaemia, played by Meryl Streep, whilst DiCaprio appears as her unstable young son. It wouldn’t be until Killers of the Flower Moon that the two would come together again, although they would team up for a short piece called The Audition. It depicts fictionalised versions of DiCaprio and De Niro trying to cosy up to Scorsese in order to bag a part in his next film.
When you’ve been in the business for as long as DiCaprio, there must be plenty of these ‘full circle’ moments. Going from De Niro’s on-screen stepson to his on-screen nephew in the space of 30 years must have been surreal; a reminder of just how far both men had come.
