While Leonardo DiCaprio is one of the biggest celebrities in the world, there is someone even he gets star-studded by – Jack Nicholson. Leonardo DiCaprio once stated that working with the renowned actor in Martin Scorsese’s The Departed gave him some of the best memories of his life, memories that he will never forget.
One such memory might be the time when Jack Nicholson surprised everyone on set, including Leonardo DiCaprio, when he pulled out a gun in an iconic scene. Since this was not a planned move, the reaction you see on Leonardo DiCaprio’s face in the movie is the real deal. Martin Scorsese was so impressed by Jack Nicholson’s spontaneity that he still gets chills when he thinks about that scene.
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When Jack Nicholson Pulled a Gun on Leonardo DiCaprio
In Richard Schnickel’s book, Conversations with Scorsese, Martin Scorsese recalled the filming of an iconic scene in The Departed. In the scene, Jack Nicholson’s character, Frank Costello, was interrogating Leonardo DiCaprio’s Trooper William ‘Billy’ Costigan Jr.
Scorsese recalled how he took a sniff of his glass, said “I smell a rat…” and then proceeded to take a gun out. The next thing we know is that the action was enough to take all the color out of DiCaprio’s face.
“The first thing Jack did was sniff the glass and say, ‘I smell a rat’…And then he pulled a gun on him. He didn’t tell me he had a gun. It was great…we took a lot out, but Leo’s reaction is real-time…I still get chills…It’s so real to me.”
Apparently, the reason behind Nicholson’s surprise was that he wanted to make the scene “more intense” and the little improvisation trick sure seemed to have worked in his favor.
Leonardo DiCaprio Praises Jack Nicholson
During a press conference, DiCaprio talked about how thanks to Nicholson’s improvisation, he did not know what was going to happen in a number of scenes. He stated,
“One scene in particular,we did the scene one way, and I remember Jack speaking to Marty because he said he didn’t feel that he was intimidating enough. It was one of the table scenes. It was one of the most memorable moments of my life as far as being an actor is concerned. I remember coming into the scene one way and then I came in the next day and the prop guy told me, ‘Well, be careful he’s got a fire extinguisher, a gun, some matches, and a bottle of whiskey.’”
DiCaprio added that while Nicholson’s time on the set of The Departed was short, the actor left him with memories he will never forget.
“He had a short run, he filmed his scenes and then he left, but those were some of the most intense moments of the film for me certainly. As a human being as a person, there were some memories that I will never forget.”
The Departed went on to earn a score of 91% on Rotten Tomatoes. It made $291 million at the box office on a budget of just $90 million. Scorsese won a Golden Globe for his work as a director.
You can stream The Departed on Netflix.
Source: Conversations with Scorsese
