LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: After Leonardo DiCaprio’s ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ has received a straight nine-minute standing ovation, the movie buffs are eagerly waiting for its release in the theaters in October 2023. DiCaprio’s portrayal of any character on-screen has enamored his fans ever since he landed his breakthrough role in ‘Titanic’. But have you ever wondered what happens when the ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ star doesn’t take up a role?
The answer to this pertinent question is however, given by none other than the man who himself has lost five roles to DiCaprio, including the iconic Jack Dawson’s. The man is none other than famous for his portrayal of Patrick Bateman in the thriller ‘American Psycho’, Christian Bale. According to Bale, most of his contemporaries have DiCaprio to thank for their Hollywood career. Read below to know why.
‘They all offered every one of those roles to him first’
As the Oscar-winning actor was questioned about him losing five times to DiCaprio, he candidly said, “It’s not just me,” before adding to the interview with GQ, “Look, to this day, any role that anybody gets, it’s only because he’s passed on it beforehand.”
He then added that no matter how good a rapport an actor has with a director, the showrunner will always offer the role first to the ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ star. He continues, “It doesn’t matter what anyone tells you. It doesn’t matter how friendly you are with the directors. All those people that I’ve worked with multiple times, they all offered every one of those roles to him first. Right?”
He shared that he came to know about this little Hollywood secret from “one of those people” only. He recalled, “I had one of those people actually tell me that. So, thank you, Leo, because literally, he gets to choose everything he does. And good for him, he’s phenomenal.”
When he was asked in the interview whether he feels any discontent for that, his reply was a candid “No.” The ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ star added, “Do you know how grateful I am to get any damn thing? I mean, I can’t do what he does.” However, he added that he will not be comfortable with the same amount of exposure too, saying, “I wouldn’t want the exposure that he has either.” But it doesn’t stop him from praising the man deemed to be his professional rival, saying that “And he does it magnificently.” He concludes the segment by remarking, “But I would suspect that almost everybody of similar age to him in Hollywood owes their careers to him passing on whatever project it is.”
'The name burned Christian like a branding iron'
Bale’s longtime publicist, Harrison Cheung, however, gave a different view of the duo’s equation in the ‘Batman’ star’s book ‘Christian Bale – The Inside Story Of The Darkest Batman’. Cheung wrote, “DiCaprio. The name burned Christian like a branding iron,” as per StyleCaster. The publicist elaborated the reason by saying, “Over the years, Christian had lost ‘This Boy’s Life’ and 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape’ to DiCaprio.” Cheung continued, “Christian had read for the part of Mercutio in ‘Romeo + Juliet' but was told that they had decided to cast an African-American in the part instead.”
Bale even lost the iconic role of Jack Dawson To DiCaprio, which made ‘The Revenant’ star one of the most favorite leading men in Hollywood. Cheung wrote, “Christian too had gone up for the part of Jack Dawson in Titanic but was told that James Cameron didn’t want two British lead actors playing the two leads who were both supposed to be American.” Ultimately, DiCaprio landed the role of Jack, and Kate Winslet essayed the role of Rose.
