“Leo Knows I Feel That Way.” Leonardo DiCaprio Was Called “a Spoiled Punk” by the Director of One of His Biggest Hits
Leonardo DiCaprio upset the director of one of his biggest hits with one decision and was called “a spoiled punk” by him.
Leonardo DiCaprio is the star of one of James Cameron's greatest works, and while the actor's stirring performance was largely responsible for the film's success, one situation made the filmmaker nervous about Jack actor from Titanic.
This situation occurred before the Academy Awards gala, when DiCaprio, who was not nominated for any award, refused to attend the event under the pretext that it did not represent him and was not for him. Cameron tried to convince the actor to go to the gala and support the rest of the team, telling him repeatedly that if he didn't, he would come off as “a spoiled punk,” but it was no use – DiCaprio didn't go to the awards.
Cameron spoke bitterly about the situation during an interview with Rolling Stone.
I felt that it was kind of a snub, not of the film per se but of all the other people who did care and had sweated blood for the movie. So I kept calling and saying, “You gotta go for the team – and, frankly, you have to go for yourself, because the consequences of not going will be that you’re gonna look like a spoiled punk.” So he didn’t go, and he looked like a spoiled punk.
And Leo knows I feel that way, so I’m not saying anything out of school. He agonized over it – but there was something about it that wasn’t him. That was the message I got on my machine, like, the day before: “It just ain’t me, bro.” Apparently, getting $4 million to do a juice ad that airs only in Japan is him; going to the Oscars is not.
Leonardo DiCaprio missed the Oscar nomination for Best Actor, but Titanic competed for statuettes in fourteen other categories. So there were a lot of nominations, and in most of them the statuettes went to Titanic, which was triumphant that day, but the crew was not accompanied by DiCaprio at the gala.
