The Leonardo DiCaprio movie Lily Gladstone was obsessed with
In 2023, our cinema screens were consistently blessed by stellar leading performances. Mark Ruffalo and Emma Stone engaged in a constant scene-stealing battle at the forefront of Poor Things, while Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr delivered career-defining performances in Oppenheimer. Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie roller-skated their way through the highs and lows of life in Barbieland, but perhaps the most formidable leading duo were Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone in Killers of the Flower Moon.
Under Martin Scorsese’s direction, Gladstone and DiCaprio led an ensemble cast in the story of the Osage murders. As Ernest Burkhart, DiCaprio embodies the gullibility of his character with ease, but Gladstone is the real star of the show. Her understated presence somehow remains captivating through the film’s entire three-hour runtime.
Admiration for Gladstone’s work in the film has been widespread, and rightfully so, but perhaps no one is a bigger fan of her work than her co-star himself. DiCaprio has heaped praise on Gladstone wherever possible, deeming her the “heart and soul” of the movie in an interview with Entertainment Tonight and even taking to social media to deem their collaboration a “highlight of [his] career”.
DiCaprio’s love for Gladstone’s work is not one-sided. The Killers of the Flower Moon star has revealed her obsession with an iconic early DiCaprio picture – James Cameron’s Titanic. In middle school at the time of its release, Gladstone was so enthralled by the film that she made a two-mile trek to secure a physical copy of the blockbuster.
“I [got] the double box set from Toys R’ Us,” she recalled to Entertainment Tonight, “I got on the list early. I was in sixth grade, lived about two miles away from the Toys R’ Us. Mom was at work. Dad was at work, so I walked myself over…” However, Gladstone’s dedication to Titanic did not stem from her admiration for DiCaprio’s performance. She was more taken by Kate Winslet’s presence in the disaster story.
“I’ve said this before,” she declared, “I made that walk for Kate. Leo did great in the film, but I made that walk for Kate Winslet.” It’s a performance that seems more than worthy of that two mile venture. Winslet’s role earned her a nomination for the ‘Best Actress’ award at the Academy Awards, though she would lose to Helen Hunt for As Good as It Gets.
Decades on from her youthful obsession with Titanic, Gladstone has taken on Winslet’s position as DiCaprio’s co-star and delivered an equally impressive performance opposite the acting giant.
