Leonardo DiCaprio is potentially one of the most talented actors in the film industry in recent times. He has been nominated for multiple Oscars and has even won one for his work on the 2016 The Revenant. He has worked on some of the biggest projects in Hollywood like The Great Gatsby, The Wolf of Wallstreet, Titanic, and Inception.
With this much success, one would expect DiCaprio to be paid substantially and have directors constantly trying to meet his demands to have him feature in their movies, but that was not the case with Clint Eastwood.
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Leonardo DiCaprio Accpeted A Massive Pay Cut To Work With Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood is one of the most well-known names in Hollywood. He is an extraordinary actor as well as an exceptional director. Actors dream of working with him due to his filmmaking methods and his striking cinematography. Leonardo DiCaprio is no different in this.
The Titanic star wanted to diversify his career by being a part of J. Edger, based on the real-life and career of an FBI director called J. Edgar Hoover. He had never acted in a movie like this and wanted to be a part of a variety of different types of projects. Eastwood realized this, knowing that he could have easily picked and bigger movie with a bigger budget.
“He could have made a lot of money just doing spectacle movies with all kinds of CGI,” Eastwood said. “But he wants to vary his career as I’ve always looked to vary mine as a director.”
Eastwood realized this, knowing that he could have easily picked and bigger movie with a bigger budget. To be able to convince Eastwood to take him up as the lead role in the movie, DiCaprio ended up agreeing to be paid 90% lesser than what he was to earn, which was a substantial pay cut.
Leonardo DiCaprio Praised For His Performance in J. Edgar
After the release, to the disappointment of all, J. Edgar did quite poorly at the box office. Critics and audiences had quite negative reactions to the movie as a whole. However, even though the movie sits at 43% on Rotten Tomatoes, one thing that is undeniable according to the critics is that the performances in the movie were spectacular.
They praised DiCaprio for his powerful performance as the titular character. He along with Armie Hammer, who is also part of the cast of this movie, both received Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations for their performances in the film. Though this is not necessarily one of Clint Eastwood’s most memorable movies, it did help DiCaprio to add variety to his acting portfolio.
Source: CheatSheet
