Leonardo DiCaprio is one of the most accomplished actors in Hollywood at the moment. He has worked with legendary directors such as Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino, and Danny Boyle. He has had multiple collaborations with Martin Scorsese and will be collaborating with the legend again in this year’s Killers of the Flower Moon.
In 1997, DiCaprio starred in the blockbuster film Titanic, which saw him featured with Kate Winslet. The James Cameron directorial propelled the actor to worldwide fame and the film earned a whopping $2.25 billion at the global box office. However, despite the success, Leonardo DiCaprio still has one regret after the film.
Casting Leonardo DiCaprio As Jack Dawson
Before Leonardo DiCaprio became a worldwide phenomenon with Titanic, he was already making waves as a young up-and-coming actor in Hollywood. As a child actor, he starred along with Robert DeNiro in the family drama This Boy’s Life. He also starred along with Johnny Depp in the drama What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, playing Depp’s disabled younger brother Arnie. His performance fetched him his first nominations for the Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
He then starred in a number of films such as The Basketball Diaries, Total Eclipse, Marvin’s Room with Meryl Streep and Diane Keaton, and Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo+Juliet. While DiCaprio was offered the role of Eddie Adams in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights, he instead chose James Cameron’s epic romance Titanic.
Before being cast in Titanic, James Cameron considered a bunch of actors. His first choice was actor River Pheonix, who sadly passed away much before. In fact, DiCaprio replaced Pheonix in Total Eclipse. Cameron was also given the choice of actors such as Mathew McConaughey, Tom Cruise, Chris O’Donnell, and Stephen Dorff. DiCaprio was finally selected after a screen test. According to James Cameron, he could not get DiCaprio to focus until, “…for one split second, a shaft of light came down from the heavens and lit up the forest.”
DiCaprio was cast as Jack Dawson, the poor artist who wins tickets to the Titanic on its doomed first voyage and falls in love with Rose, played by Kate Winslet. The film opened to positive reviews, fourteen Oscar nominations, and a grand $2.25 billion at the box office. The film paved the way for DiCaprio to star and collaborate with many acclaimed filmmakers.
What Is Leonardo DiCaprio’s Deepest Regret After Titanic?
Since Titanic, Leonardo DiCaprio has starred in acclaimed films such as The Aviator, Catch Me If You Can, Blood Diamon, Inception, and The Wolf of Wall Street. After being snubbed by the Academy four times, the actor finally won the Best Actor Academy Award for his role as Hugh Glass in The Revenant.
He also collaborated with acclaimed directors such as Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino. He has collaborated with the latter twice in Django Unchained and Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. His role as slave owner Calvin Candie in Django Unchained was much appreciated and his role as fading star Rick Dalton in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood earned him another Best Actor Oscar nomination.
Despite the success, the actor reveals his regret. During promotions for Django Unchained with Today magazine, he said,
“I probably should have done more movies during that time period. I took a solid break…I didn’t even understand what a hit was, you know? That movie came out and people were like, ‘This movie is doing amazingly well!’ and I’m like, ‘Good, that’s great!'”
However, he did attribute his success and the choice to do more roles to Titanic, mentioning that the film gave him an opportunity, from that point on, to choose the roles he wanted to do.
Source: E! News
