Leonardo DiCaprio is a smart guy. In fact, it could be said one of the smartest. He has had the opportunity to fall into many traps that the industry brings, but he has been sensible by the way he goes about his job and has in turn, become one of the world most well known actors and (finally) has an Oscar to his name.
There aren't many people that don't want DiCaprio to do well nowadays. Straight out the starting blocks with one of his first films back in 1997, the infamous 'Titanic', DiCaprio was breaking both box office records and teenage hearts, whilst all his doubters had nothing to reply with. It was the start of something special.
DiCaprio has based his Hollywood lifestyle on what seems something very simple yet has still managed to work with some of the best in the industry. And when we say the best, we mean the best. The likes of Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino, Christopher Nolan, Clint Eastwood and Ridley Scott have all had the pleasure of the actors services over the years. Such opportunities to work with these huge directors could make some shiver in fear, but DiCaprio has oozed class and personality and mixed it together with his sheer talent in front of the camera. Whatever the role, genre or period in his career, his decisions and way of going about his job seem to work.
Whilst praising his climb to the top of the acting world, it might be a good time to stop and mention the occasions when the actor actually turned down numerous projects that other actors would only dream of accepting. We can close our eyes and dream of a parallel universe in which DiCaprio could have provided us with even more success from the many roles he in fact declined. So, here are eight roles that the Hollywood born actor politely said no to. Were they the correct decisions or unexpected errors? We'll have a look into it.
1 Robin
Although, thanks to Batman & Robin, the film 'Batman Forever' its not the worst Batman movie out there, however it's certainly not far from it. Director Joel Schumacher took up the mantle for the saga started by the brilliant Tim Burton and turned it into a tacky, juvenile and silly affair. DiCaprio went for a meeting with the director to talk about the role of Robin.
However, after reading the script and discussing the prospect, DiCaprio decided it wasn't for him. In fact, the actor admitted he never really wanted to take the role from the start as he wasn't ready for such a film like the one Schumacher had planned.
2 Patrick Bateman ('American Psycho')
Here we have an example of a moment in DiCaprio's career where we know we're dealing with an actor who is not scared to play with fire. In a key part of his career, where mountains of scripts were no doubt piled up on his desk and his phone constantly ringing offering him roles, the actor decided to see what Lionsgate had to offer for the film 'American Psycho'. The lead role and a 20 million dollar pay packet. That was what was on the table for our Leo.
However, after clashing with director Mary Harron over a whole range of issues when she found out he had already been given the role, it was not to be. Harron thought DiCaprios baby face and even younger fan base meant he was not well suited for the type of film she was wanting to produce. So, DiCaprio declined the offer and in stepped Christian Bale to play the role of Patrick Bateman.
3 Anakin Skywalker
Leonardo DiCaprio and 'Star Wars'. Now surely that is a combo that fans from all around the world would die to see. DiCaprio was offered the role for the young Jedi mentee, Anakin Skywalker, who eventually turns to the Dark Side in 'Star Wars: Episode II- Attack of the Clones'.
The actor did some camera testing, met some of the production team and had ongoing negotiations with the studio, however he turned it down as he claims he wasn't ready to dive into such a role at the time. Lucas tried his hardest to convince him but he eventually had to find an alternative which came in the form of Hayden Christensen.
4 Dirk Diggler ('Boogie Nights')
For Leo, there aren't many directors that he feels are essential for him to work with, however DiCaprio admits he regrets turning down the offer to play Dirk Diggler in Boogie Nights because he is a big fan of director Paul Thomas Anderson.
Responsible for the likes of 'Magnolia', 'There Will Be Blood' and 'The Master', DiCaprio was gifted the chance to work with the director in 'Boogie Nights'. However, Leo declined the offer for the role, as he had just accepted a part in a different film instead. That part was in a small film called 'Titanic'. And just like that, the career of Leonardo DiCaprio had well and truly started.
5 Alan Turing
In 2012 Leonardo DiCaprio was announced to play the lead role in 'The Imitation Game', the story of WWII mathematician Alan Turing who attempts to crack the enigma code. However, a few months later, it was confirmed that DiCaprio and Warner Bros. Studio had passed on the project as DiCaprio never formally attached himself to the role.
As a result, the Weinstein Company acquired the rights to the film. Step up Benedict Cumberbatch who took on the role of Turing was nominated for eight Oscars including Best Film and Best Actor. However, it only won Best Adapted Screenplay.
6 Spider-Man
Imagine the moment when it was announced that Toby Maguire was to be the new Spider Man after DiCaprio had just said no the role. The barrage of protests would have been nothing compared with the earthquake of fans who would have prayed on their knees for Leo to turn back time and take the offer for the role of the most famous wall-crawler in the history. But no, the actor made it very clear and not even director Sam Raimi could change his mind.
It was during the same period that Leo was finalising his roles in the two classics 'Catch Me If You Can' and 'Gangs of New York'. Seems understandable for him to prefer to work with the likes of Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese rather than crawling walls and shooting spider webs.
7 Christian ('Moulin Rouge')
As you can imagine, after the success of the likes of 'Titanic', you can't blame DiCaprio for thinking he can tackle anything put in front of him. However, this case is different. Everything was ready for Leo to play the lead role alongside Nicole Kidman in the musical film directed by baz Luhrmann, 'Moulin Rouge'. However, just one small thing was missing: Leo's ability to sing.
The actor had to accept that maybe singing wasn't his forte, and decided to scrap the project. DiCaprio's loss, was Ewan McGregor's gain as he took on the role of Christian instead.
8 Steve Jobs
It could be said out of all the decisions that DiCaprio has turned down, this may just be the best one. Bit of a spoiler: it ends in an Oscar. In the early stages Leo was set to star in the biopic that told the story of the founder of Apple, however this came to an immediate halt as another offer for a role swooped in and wooed the actor. Yes, it was of course Alejandro González Iñárritu's film 'The Revenant', his latest project after his Academy award winning film 'Birdman'. The rest is history.
Michael Fassbender did a fantastic job of playing Steve Jobs and both him and DiCaprio proved fierce competition for each other in their fight for an Oscar in 2016. But there was only one winner... Leo finally has an Oscar.