Killers of the Flower Moon director Martin Scorsese recalls poking fun at Leonardo DiCaprio’s constant improvisation with Robert De Niro while filming. Based on a book of the same name by author David Grann, Scorsese’s upcoming Western epic chronicles the Osage murders that took place in the 1920s following the discovery of oil on their land in Northern Oklahoma. The Killers of the Flower Moon cast includes DiCaprio as Ernest Burkhart, De Niro as William Hale, and Lily Gladstone as Mollie Burkhart.
Now, just ahead of the Killers of the Flower Moon release date, Scorsese recalls in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that DiCaprio and De Niro had very different styles of acting. While De Niro was mostly more reserved, DiCaprio, he reveals, was constantly wanting to discuss his scenes and improvise. Check out Scorsese’s comment on DiCaprio’s improvising below:
“Oh, endless, endless, endless! Then Bob didn’t want to talk. Every now and then, Bob and I would look at each other and roll our eyes a little bit. And we’d tell him, ‘You don’t need that dialogue.’”
Will Killers Of The Flower Moon Be DiCaprio’s Best Performance?
DiCaprio is widely regarded as one of the best actors currently working today, having starred in a host of award-winning films, including many from Scorsese. DiCaprio was nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars for both The Aviator and The Wolf of Wall Street, the latter of which is considered one of DiCaprio’s most memorable roles. It was 2015’s The Revenant, however, that finally secured DiCaprio the win for Best Actor.
While movies like Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and Django Unchained still remain highlights of DiCaprio’s career, there’s a chance that his Killers of the Flower Moon role will be his most acclaimed yet. DiCaprio plays a fairly unsavory character in Scorsese’s new movie, willingly becoming entangled in William Hale’s nefarious (and violent) schemes to steal oil from the Osage people. Trailers for the movie have already provided an indication of the type of performance DiCaprio will be giving, showing him sporting an accent and different teeth.
The Killers of the Flower Moon reviews all essentially cite the cast and performances as a highlight of the film, with DiCaprio earning particularly strong praise. In addition to critics, the film’s editor, Thelma Schoonmaker, told GamesRadar at the film’s premiere that she believes the role is DiCaprio’s “best work“. While the actor’s constant improvisation may have been a bit much at times, it evidently resulted in a truly layered and powerful performance.
