Leonardo DiCaprio has worked with several actors throughout his decades-long career. However, not everyone has left the same impact on him as his Gangs of New York co-star Daniel Day-Lewis. The two starred in Martin Scorsese’s 2002 historical drama, following Amsterdam Vallon who seeks revenge for his father, who was killed in a gang fight at the hands of a crime lord, Bill ‘The Butcher,’ portrayed by Day-Lewis.
The 66-year-old actor was highly praised for his performance, and it was evident as he fully immersed himself in his role to such an extent that he didn’t even talk to his co-star while filming the movie. The Titanic star later shared his experience working with him, saying that he was surprised with his commitment.
Leonardo DiCaprio on Working With Daniel Day-Lewis
The 2002 historical drama Gangs of New York brought together some of the highly acclaimed names in Hollywood, including Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Daniel Day-Lewis, who is known for his strict commitment to his characters.
And it wasn’t different for Gangs of New York as well, as his co-star shared that he was fully immersed in the role of Bill ‘The Butcher’ even before the filming commenced. Recalling the days leading up to production, The Departed star shared his surprise at Day-Lewis’s level of commitment during an interview, saying,
“It was like two days before we started shooting, and you know, we’d been saying, ‘Hi Daniel,’ ‘Hi Marty,’ ‘Good morning,’ stuff like that….I kind of walked by and he and Daniel went, Daniel looked, I said, ‘Morning Daniel,’ and he went, [grunts]. And I said, ‘Oh sh*t, game on.'”
DiCaprio further shared that he did not say a word to him until the last day of reshoots when they kind of looked at each other and smiled. Despite the lack of verbal interaction, the level of commitment of the Phantom Thread actor was inspiring for DiCaprio, as he shared that it allowed him to learn a few new techniques.
Leonardo DiCaprio Convinced Daniel Day-Lewis to Join Gangs of New York
After his 1997 film, The Boxer Daniel Day-Lewis went into semi-retirement before making his comeback alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in the 2002 film Gangs of New York. Knowing that the three-time Oscar winner was on a break, filmmaker Martin Scorsese tasked DiCaprio with talking Day-Lewis into joining the production.
During his interview, the Inception star shared that Scorsese told him that he knew Day-Lewis was a great fit for the role and asked to have a conversation with him about it. He went with the offer to Day-Lewis and shared that they had several meetings.
DiCaprio shared that his close friend, Tobey Maguire, also suggested Daniel Day-Lewis take the offer, saying that it was his responsibility as a talented actor to “get back in the saddle.” He slightly disagreed initially but eventually accepted the offer.
Gangs of New York is available on Max.
