Martin Scorsese is opening up about why Leonardo DiCaprio’s role changed during the production of Killers of the Flower Moon. Based on the real story told in the book by David Grann, the movie walks through the events of the Osage murders in the 1920s. DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone, Brendan Fraser, and more star actors all play roles in the movie with DiCaprio playing Ernest Burkhart, who has been secretly committing various murders. He was originally going to play FBI agent Tom White instead.
The Killers of the Flower Moon cast is filled with so many leading actors that DiCaprio was able to switch roles without any issues at all. While it has been widely publicized that he originally planned to play Tom White, he and Scorsese agreed that he better suited Burkhart. In an interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Scorsese explained that DiCaprio came to him to change roles after realizing where the “heart” of the movie was. Check out the interview and the quote below:
What really was interesting is that Margie Burkhart got up, and she is the granddaughter of Ernest Burkhart, the character that Leo plays in the film. She got up and she said you have to understand that yes, there was murder, et cetera, et cetera, but Mollie and Ernest were in love. They were in love. Then I realize this is much more complicated because if they were in love, how is he going about what he was doing… At a certain point, Leo turned to me and he said where is the heart? Where is the heart? I said well, it’s with Lily, I said. It’s with Mollie and with Ernest. He said maybe I should play Ernest instead of Tom White.
Leonardo DiCaprio Needed To Play Ernest Burkhart
DiCaprio Was The Perfect Actor For Ernest Burkhart
While White would have been a more heroic character, playing Ernest gave DiCaprio the chance to play a richer and more complex character. Ernest is a figure with emotional ties to countless characters, including Mollie. Despite being married, the two are constantly at odds, as Ernest desperately tries to find ways to kill his own wife. It’s a compelling angle that captured DiCaprio’s attention.
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Had he taken the role that would eventually go to Jesse Plemons, DiCaprio would have still been a star, but he would not have had quite as much to enjoy about the character. White is driven by his desire to investigate and to help prevent further murders, but Ernest’s conflicting motivations are more compelling for an actor like DiCaprio. Instead of leaving the movie as a hero, DiCaprio intended to leave it after having fully investigated everything that makes Ernest villainous.
Despite expectations, however, DiCaprio was snubbed from the 2024 Oscar nominations. While Killers of the Flower Moon was nominated for several categories, DiCaprio was left off of the list entirely. The movie still has the chance to win several Academy Awards, but DiCaprio will need to celebrate from the sideline, having been ruled incapable of taking any individual awards for his performance as Ernest.
