“My Biggest Regret”: Leonardo DiCaprio was spoiled for choice between “Titanic” and an absolute cult masterpiece

Leonardo DiCaprio has long been one of the biggest Hollywood stars of our time since his long-awaited Oscar win for ‘The Revenant’ (2015): Hardly any other actor manages to attract large audiences to the cinemas with such regularity to the critics to inspire.

Back in the 1990s, studios were looking for the now 49-year-old, who quickly found his way into his roles – and has since appeared in front of the cameras of many of the greatest directors of our time, including Christopher Nolan. , Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino and Martin Scorsese. He even collaborated with the latter six times, most recently for “Killers Of The Flower Moon”.

DiCaprio, who received his first Oscar nomination at the age of 19 for “Gilbert Grape – Somewhere in Iowa” (1993), celebrated his big break with Baz Luhrmann’s postmodern “Romeo & Juliet” version from 1996 and, of course, “Titanic” (1997), which spent twelve years at the top of the most successful films of all time.

But as you can read here, the actor initially had no doubts about whether he should take on the role of Jack Dawson. The then teenage heartthrob did not want to be tied to the romantic hero – moreover, at the same time he received an offer that could have taken his career in a completely different direction…

Leonardo DiCaprio had a choice between ‘Titanic’ and ‘Boogie Nights’

In the mid-1990s, Leonardo DiCaprio had to choose between James Cameron’s megablockbuster and the second feature from a promising newcomer: Paul Thomas Anderson, who was still looking for the right cast for porn star Eddie Adams alias Dirk Diggler for his ensemble film “Boogie Nights” (1997) (which would eventually help rapper Mark Wahlberg gain acting fame). In terms of box office success, “Boogie Nights” obviously couldn’t come close to “Titanic,” but it received three Oscar nominations, earned Anderson the reputation of a child prodigy – and developed into an absolute cult following over the years. movie.

Of course, DiCaprio doesn’t go so far as to regret his choice of ‘Titanic’ – and yet the star of ‘The Wolf Of Wall Street’ did so in the interview admitted that he would have loved to have taken part in the film, which according to the FILMSTARTS review is a near-perfect five-star masterpiece. “My biggest regret is ‘Boogie Nights,’” DiCaprio said. “I’m a big fan of Paul Thomas Anderson, but when I met him for this role I hadn’t seen much of his previous work. Now I love the movie.”

Anderson also participated -Podcast confirms that DiCaprio was his original favorite for Dirk Diggler: “It’s absolutely true,” said the director, who recently caused a stir with the tragicomedy “Licorice Pizza.” “I asked Leo to be in the film and he hesitated and debated it for months. Halfway through this long process I realized he had to make a decision: Titanic or Boogie Nights, and he chose Titanic. That ultimately gave him worldwide fame, but I think he might have regretted it if he missed this experience.”

But more than 25 years after the failed collaboration between DiCaprio and Anderson, there is now a happy ending: The actor will star alongside Sean Penn and Regina Hall in the as-yet-untitled next film from the creator of There Will Be Blood (we reported on it here). Details about the story are not yet known, but the most important thing is that Anderson, the next master director, is finally on DiCaprio’s list of creative partners!