Quentin Tarantino himself figured he’d let DiCaprio use his creative freedom, but edit it out once it was shot.
Throughout his career, Leonardo DiCaprio has created so many memorable moments on the big-screen. However, the moment we’re looking at today is extra special given that it was improvised by the actor himself.
What makes things that much more impressive is the fact that he was able to pull it off alongside Quentin Tarantino, who usually doesn’t make many adjustments to his vision. Tarantino himself figured he’d let DiCaprio use his creative freedom, but edit it out once it was shot.
However, Tarantino quickly learned that would not be the case after seeing Leo’s performance. We’ll take a look back at the scene in question, and how Tarantino felt about Leo’s bold move in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
Leonardo DiCaprio Was Already Thinking About The Possibilities With His Rick Dalton Character After Reading The Script For The First Time
He gets the best scripts in Hollywood so for Leonardo DiCaprio, he can be extra picky when it comes to certain scripts. However, speaking alongside Deadline, Leo revealed he was instantly hooked to the Rick Dalton character after his first read. DiCaprio admits he was already thinking about his approach to the role, and what the character was all about.
He revealed, “I told him it was great and that I loved what he did. And I was already on track of thinking, OK, what are we going to do with Rick Dalton? Because in the original draft, there were some things that I needed to understand about who he was. He was this template for the industry at the time, and so much of his character had to exist within the context of watching television, or watching movies, or watching him act.”
It seems that at the start, Leo was very hands-on with the character, and that continued throughout the shoot as DiCaprio used his improv skills for several scenes alongside Brad Pitt.
Leo reveals, “Brad and I did a lot of improvising in the movie, but our relationship clicked right off the bat. I made the choice to be this character that had a massive alcohol problem and is going through his own realization that he’s completely mortal and that all of this could disappear.”
As it turns out, DiCaprio made another huge change and one Tarantino had no choice but to agree with.
Quentin Tarantino Admitted Leonardo DiCaprio Was Right To Include Rick Dalton’s Meltdown
The goal for Leonardo DiCaprio was to mess up his lines during the Lancer scene, which in turn, would completely mess up Tarantino’s vision for the scene. Quentin himself admitted that he struggled with Leo’s idea at first, and was likely going to remove it during the editing process.
Leo said, ‘I think I need to fuck it up and forget the lines,” Tarantino said. “I just wanted to do my Lancer scene, a way to do this Western through the back door. He said, ‘I know I’m kind of f****** up your scene, but I think that would be good for the character.’ I saw it as him ruining my fun, basically, but I say, ‘Fine. I’ll write a version, and we’ll do the Lancer scene straight, and with the f*** **, knowing that in the editing room I was going to do what I wanted to.”
After watching Leo’s version, Tarantino quickly understood it was only right to use Leo’s version.“As soon as we did that second version, the take that is in the movie, I was like, ‘OK, OK, we’re obviously doing this now.’ He was right. It was terrific and it gave the whole thing an arc that worked wonderfully.”
DiCaprio was completely right with his vision, and it made for a memorable scene. Fans were also praising the actor in the comments section in the video above. Yup, he’s pretty good…
Leonardo DiCaprio Improvised The Entire Scene While Quentin Tarantino Pieced It Together
Finally, DiCaprio got his version into the final cut, while Tarantino was able to present it perfectly in the editing room. DiCaprio spoke about his delight for the scene and the way it shaped out.
He tells Collider, “It’s this real turning point for Rick. Here he is, face to face with the new hot swinging dick in Hollywood television who’s got his own show that Rick used to have. And Rick can’t get his lines out. He can’t do it.”
He continues, “What’s so amazing about Quentin is, you bring up one idea like that, and then this whole other Pandora’s Box of possibilities opens up. He makes it a Western, within a Western. He says, we have to have Rick re-preparing himself, and then walking down that Western set to do a shootout with his adversary, but the shootout is within the context of a scene…”
Looking back at DiCaprio’s role in the film, it’ll always be regarded among his most underrated work ever.
News
The Western That Allows Jodie Foster to Release Her Inner Screwball Comedian
Westerns are making quite the comeback, and people of all ages certainly enjoy the older ones, from classics like True Grit to more modern hits like 3:10 to Yuma. Maverick, though, is one of those Westerns that works absolutely perfectly, as its comedic timing is…
Why Didn’t Jodie Foster Star in the ‘Hannibal’ Movie?
When Sir Anthony Hopkins returned to the role of Dr. Hannibal Lecter 10 years after The Silence of the Lambs accomplished an actual cultural reset by winning every major Academy Award (rare indeed for the horror genre), he did so without Jodie Foster, his original…
‘True Detective: Night Country’ Borrows From ‘The Thing’ to up Its Horror and Paranoia
True Detective is one of the most groundbreaking works of filmmaking, as it proved that television was not a “lesser” medium when compared to cinema. While this may in part be because the series frequently casts major film stars in its leading…
Justin Bieber teases potential music in cryptic post
Justin Bieber teases potential music in cryptic post Justin Bieber might be working on new music and Hailey Bieber is there to support her The two-time Grammy winning artist took to his official instagram account on Sunday, October 20 to share some…
Jodie Foster’s Favorite Movie Is A Controversial Comedy That’s Celebrating Its 20th Anniversary Read More: https://www.slashfilm.com/1689954/jodie-foster-favorite-movie-controversial-comedy/
Jodie Foster’s career has been famously wild. As a child, she appeared in lightweight Disney films like “Napoleon and Samantha” and “Freaky Friday,” while also taking the world by surprise playing an underage sex worker in Martin Scorsese’s “Taxi…
Jodie Foster on Her Crush on Robert Redford and How Sting is Perfect
Jodie Foster, a renowned actress and director, recently opened up in an interview with W Magazine about her early start in the entertainment industry, her passion for directing, and her celebrity crushes. A Star is Born: Jodie’s Early Career Jodie…
End of content
No more pages to load