14 DAY TRIAL // Leonardo DiCaprio is up for the Best Actor at the Oscars 2014, and his new interview with Variety magazine makes for pretty impressive Oscar campaigning. In an editorial meant to show fans, critics and the world at large that he’s not your typical celebrity, DiCaprio opens up on a variety of topics.
Useless to say, if you’re a fan of his work – because, let’s be real, DiCaprio was never much of a celebrity in the sense that we think of the term today, that is someone who likes to have their picture taken and to talk to the media about the most intimate details of their personal life – the piece is a must read.
DiCaprio explains why he really wanted to see his latest film, the R-rated, Martin Scorsese-directed “Wolf of Wall Street” on the big screen and why he’s done so much press for it, an uncharacteristically huge amount of it: he knew from the start that movies like this one, where there are no redeeming qualities to the characters, don’t actually come a dime a dozen.
He also talks about his start in the industry at a very early age and how he never thought of acting as of a career. When he was very young, he imagined he would only make enough money to put himself through college.
“I saw all the moral decay you could, beginning at 2 years old. But I also got to see how the other half lived. I could see that this other world was out there. And if I could only get my shot, I would never waste the opportunity. That mentality and that gratitude are still in me,” DiCaprio adds.
He’s also very grateful to have turned down an offer for a role in the Disney film “Hocus Pocus,” for which he was promised a lot of money, because he really wanted to do “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.” He hadn’t even auditioned for the part in the latter, but he wasn’t about to compromise his dreams for a paycheck, no matter how impressive it was.
“I don’t know where the hell I got the nerve. You live in an environment where you’re influenced by people telling you to make a lot of money and strike while the iron’s hot. But if there’s one thing I’m very proud of, it’s being a young man who was sticking to my guns,” he laughs.
We think we’d not be too far off if we said that his fans are also proud he stuck to his guns – and continues to do so till this day. The full piece is available on the Variety website.