Killers of the Flower Moon made a huge change to the true story. The inaccuracy could’ve been fixed by casting Leonardo DiCaprio in a different role.
Martin Scorsese made a huge change to the true story in his latest opus, Killers of the Flower Moon, and that historical inaccuracy could’ve been fixed by casting Leonardo DiCaprio in a different role. Killers of the Flower Moon marked the first time that Scorsese cast both of his go-to leading men – DiCaprio and Robert De Niro – in the same movie. The film chronicles a series of murders that took place in the Osage Nation as greedy white killers attempted to usurp the Native population’s oil fortune. De Niro plays William King Hale, the unscrupulous mastermind of the killing spree, while DiCaprio plays his corruptible nephew Ernest Burkhart.
Upon its release, Killers of the Flower Moon received glowing reviews from critics praising its visuals, its cast’s performances, and its exploration of important themes. For the most part, the movie has also been lauded for its historical accuracy. Members of the Osage Nation directly consulted on the film to ensure that its depiction of historical events and cultural details would be accurate. But the movie isn’t 100% accurate, particularly in its casting of the lead roles. Killers of the Flower Moon would’ve been a lot more true-to-life if DiCaprio had played a different role than Burkhart.
Leonardo DiCaprio Is Closer To William King Hale’s Age Than Ernest Burkhart’s
At the beginning of Killers of the Flower Moon, Burkhart is welcomed home from his military service by Hale, who invites him into his house and informs him about the wealth accrued by the Native community’s discovery of oil on their land. In real life, Burkhart was only 19 years old when he returned from the war, and he was just 28 when the Osage murders began. Since DiCaprio is 48 years old, he’s much too old to play this part accurately. Meanwhile, De Niro is 80 years old in his portrayal of Hale, who was only 45 years old at the time of the Osage murders.
This isn’t the first time that DiCaprio has played a character much younger than himself. He was 39 when he played the title character in Baz Luhrmann’s big-budget adaptation of The Great Gatsby, but in the original F. Scott Fitzgerald novel, Jay Gatsby is 32 years old at the time of his death. DiCaprio’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood character, Rick Dalton, was loosely based on Burt Reynolds. Reynolds was just 33 years old in 1969 when Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is set, but DiCaprio was 45 when he made the movie.
Leonardo DiCaprio’s Age Proves He Should’ve Played William King Hale
Since DiCaprio is just a couple of years older than Hale was at the time of the Osage murders, that role would’ve been a better choice for him than Burkhart. Not only is the role of Hale a more natural fit for DiCaprio than Burkhart; it also would’ve given the actor a chance to take on a villain role, which he rarely gets to play. Hale is the real puppet-master behind the crime spree in Killers of the Flower Moon; Burkhart is more of a protagonist as his uncle manipulates him to do bad things. Burkhart isn’t a hero, but he’s not as much of a villain as Hale.
The most villainous roles that DiCaprio has played in the past, like Brandon Darrow in Celebrity, haven’t been all-out bad guys; they still have some semblance of a moral compass. Con artists like Frank Abagnale, Jr. in Catch Me If You Can and Jordan Belfort in The Wolf of Wall Street (another Scorsese film) are closer to antiheroes than real villains. The only truly reprehensible, inhuman villain that DiCaprio has played is sadistic plantation owner Calvin J. Candie in Quentin Tarantino’s slavery-era spaghetti western Django Unchained. Playing Hale in the Killers of the Flower Moon cast would’ve given DiCaprio another chance to flex his underused villain muscle.
Killers Of The Flower Moon Could Have Given Scorsese His DiCaprio Replacement
If DiCaprio had played Hale in Killers of the Flower Moon, then the role of Burkhart would’ve given Scorsese the perfect opportunity to find a younger performer somewhere between the ages of 19 and 28 to replace DiCaprio as his typical lead actor. DiCaprio was 28 when he first worked with Scorsese. An actor in a similar age range, like Timothée Chalamet (who recently worked with Scorsese on a Bleu de Chanel commercial) or Tom Holland, could’ve stepped in to play Burkhart instead. Both Chalamet and Holland are 27, so they’d be the right age to play Burkhart, and it would be interesting to see them directed by Scorsese.
Killers Of The Flower Moon Would’ve Been Better With DiCaprio As The Villain
As it is, with DiCaprio playing Burkhart and De Niro playing Hale, Killers of the Flower Moon is a terrific movie that’s bound to take home some Oscars. They both bring their A-game to their respective roles and bring the dark master-and-apprentice dynamic of Burkhart and Hale to life. Despite having not worked together since they co-starred in This Boy’s Life and Marvin’s Room in the 1990s, DiCaprio and De Niro’s on-screen chemistry is as strong as ever, effortlessly bouncing off each other in the scenes they share. But Killers of the Flower Moon might have been an even greater movie if DiCaprio had played Hale instead of Burkhart.
DiCaprio gave a mesmerizing performance as a chilling villain in Django Unchained and Hale would’ve been an even more captivating character in Killers of the Flower Moon if DiCaprio had brought some of Candie’s menace to the role. Neither DiCaprio nor De Niro is really the star of Killers of the Flower Moon. The heart of the movie is the great Lily Gladstone, who plays Burkhart’s Native American wife Mollie. If DiCaprio played Hale and a younger, less experienced actor played Burkhart, Gladstone would’ve had even more room to shine.
