Isabelle Fuhrman, the star of 2009’s horror film The Orphan and this year’s prequel, Orphan: First Kill, has revealed it was Leonardo DiCaprio who cast her more than a decade ago.

DiCaprio was a producer on the first film, and Fuhrman explained in a recent interview that despite the studio wanting to cast a young actor with blonde hair and blue eyes, after seeing her audition tape, DiCaprio was adamant the role go to Fuhrman.

In fact, DiCaprio even threatened to shop the film around elsewhere if they didn’t cast Fuhrman, who gushed that she was incredibly grateful to The Revenant star for kick-starting her career.

During an interview with Entertainment Tonight about Orphan: First Kill, Fuhrman was asked: “Leonardo DiCaprio was a producer on the first film and a big supporter of yours when you got started. Have you seen him throughout the years? Do you keep in touch? Do you see him at events? What’s that like?”

Quick to gush about the Oscar-winning star, Fuhrman replied: “I think the last time I saw him in person was at a pre-Oscars party a couple of years ago and I remember he was just shocked.”

She went on: “A lot of people don’t know that Leo is the reason I was cast in the original Orphan.

“Because I’d never worked on anything before, it was kind of one of the first couple of big auditions that I had, and they were looking for someone with blonde hair and blue eyes, and so a lot of people didn’t actually watch my tape.”

The actor elaborated: “But Leo watched my tape when he was out on location filming, and he called the studio and said ‘it’s Isabella or I’m taking the movie someplace else’.”

Isabelle Fuhrman revealed it was Leonardo DiCaprio who cast her in The Orphan. Credit: AJ Pics / Alamy Stock Photo
Fuhrman also shared a sweet anecdote about the moment she found out DiCaprio had pushed for her casting, saying: “So I really kind of owe him my entire career because it was because of him that I got cast in the movie.

“And I actually didn’t even know that until halfway through filming when Leonardo DiCaprio took me to lunch at the Polo Lounge as a kid with my mum, and I remember just sitting there and pinching myself because I couldn’t believe it. I’m a huge fan of his and I really appreciate his support.”