Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese have made several iconic movies together over the years in Hollywood. From Shutter Island to The Wolf of Wall Street, they have been an iconic duo that guarantees a movie’s success before even making it.
Talking about how DiCaprio had to convince Daniel Day-Lewis out of retirement for a role, the Titanic star stated that he had to involve Tobey Maguire in the mix to convince the actor. Making shoes happily in Italy, Daniel Day-Lewis finally came out of his retirement to star in Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York.
When Leonardo DiCaprio Brought Daniel Day-Lewis Out of Retirement!
Daniel Day-Lewis was already a pretty prominent actor before he decided to leave it all and become a shoemaker in Italy. When DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese got together for a gangster movie, there were several actors available to fill the role of Bill ‘The Butcher’ Cutting.
Discussing actors with each other, one of the crew members suggested that they could cast Daniel Day-Lewis in the role of The Butcher. The actor was, however, making shoes in Florence, Italy and so, Scorsese gave the charge to Leonardo DiCaprio to bring Daniel Day-Lewis in their movie. In an interview with the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, the actor talked about how he eventually managed to rope Daniel Day-Lews in with the help of Spider-Man star Tobey Maguire.
“We were talking about who was going to play this incredible role of Bill the Butcher […] and somebody said […] ‘What about Daniel?’And people immediately said, ‘Well, he’s retired. He’s a cobbler, he’s making shoes in Italy.’”
He continued,
“Scorsese had actually said to me, ‘I’m not sure how Daniel feels, if he’s ready to work or not. … You should have a conversation with him and suss it out.’ I got to work with somebody who was another huge influence on myself as an actor,”
In the end, Daniel Day-Lewis indeed agreed after some dinners with DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire and portrayed the role of Bill ‘The Butcher’ Cutting beautifully in what became Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York.
Leonardo DiCaprio Immediately Punched Daniel Day-Lewis After He Returned!
Gangs of New York was the first time Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese ever worked together. With Daniel Day-Lewis returning from retirement, there was a fight scene involving DiCaprio and Day-Lewis in the movie.
As per film trivia, DiCaprio accidentally broke Daniel Day-Lewis’ nose while filming a fight scene in the movie. Despite the broken nose, Day-Lewis continued to finish the scene without any takes, and the film was made. The movie received a rating of 7.5/10 on IMDB and an average rating of 72% on Rotten Tomatoes. Gangs of New York is available to stream on Max.
Source: SAG-AFTRA Foundation
