Leonardo DiCaprio may have had high hopes working with director Clint Eastwood as the latter is one of the most renowned filmmakers in the industry. The actor wanted to pick up 2011’s J. Edgar as he saw it as a way to vary his career and try out something new that he was even willing to cut his fees just to star in it.
Things did not go as DiCaprio planned after learning his acting style didn’t match Eastwood’s directing method. After that, the actor refused to work with him on future projects.
Leonardo DiCaprio’s Perfectionism Reportedly Clashed With Clint Eastwood’s Unique Directing Approach
J. Edgar isn’t a popular work of Leonardo DiCaprio but his performance in the movie earned him critical praise and a Golden Globe Award nomination. He portrayed the famed FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, a role he badly wanted that he reportedly offered to cut his fee from $20 million to $2 million just to make it happen.
At the time, Warner Bros still wanted to reduce the budget so they hired Clint Eastwood, a director known for his efficiency. Little did they know that this combo of a perfectionist actor and a one-take filmmaker would cause an alleged feud.
Avid fans of Eastwood-directed Western films certainly know he rarely allows a second take when filming scenes. He believes the first take is the most genuine one, and so he never asks actors to do a scene again. He’s very casual in a good way that he would say “in your own time” rather than “action”.
Somehow this troubled the Titanic actor because everyone knows how much he likes to deliver his best take, and it’s not a problem for him to do a couple of takes if it means he would get the right one. One time, he requested Eastwood to do a retake of one scene but the director refused and announced the day as a wrap.
DiCaprio also insisted on using practical effects. Producer Robert Lorenz told The Hollywood Reporter that they planned to use visual effects to make things easier for the actors but the lead star preferred to sit in the makeup chair with fake teeth and nose stretcher for hours to look the part. “He wanted to be sure it was going to look right,” Lorenz stated.
Why Clint Eastwood Only Shoots One Take?
DiCaprio never had any projects with Eastwood after they collaborated in J. Edgar. It was obvious that their artistic styles didn’t jive. In his interview with Film Comment, the director explained that his objective “is to make everything sound like the first time it’s said”, hence why actors only get one shot per scene.
Meanwhile, DiCaprio’s former collaborator Alejandro Iñárritu revealed that “even when you got the take, he asked for another” which is something that Eastwood wouldn’t really like.
J. Edgar is currently available to watch on Max.
