Leonardo DiCaprio has had a storied film career. From starring in Titanic, to making films with Martin Scorsese, and headlining last year’s cinematic masterpiece One Battle After Another, DiCaprio continues to prove himself as THE actor of his generation. Now, he’s looking back at some of his most memorable performances, including The Wolf of Wall Street. The Oscar winner revealed that the film was a product of a very free set, and incredible improvisational work with Jonah Hill.
In a recent interview with Time Magazine for his Entertainer of the Year profile, DiCaprio opened up about some of his iconic movies, like The Revenant and even his stint on Growing Pains. Of course, you can’t talk about DiCaprio's roles without discussing Wolf of Wall Street. His chemistry with Jonah Hill is electric, and the duo even worked together again in a producing capacity later on. DiCaprio lauded his co-star for incredible improvisational work that ended up being what made the film so wild. He said:
It was amazing to have a partner like Jonah alongside me. Jonah Hill, who is one of the great improvisational actors I’ve ever worked with. The stuff with Jonah was, to me, the most magical, sort of titillating moments in the film because we never knew which direction the scene would take at any given moment.
This sentiment rings true based on what other people on set have said about Hill. In an interview with the late Rob Reiner last year, the legendary actor/director also praised the comedian for his superb improvisational skills. He also revealed one of the funniest scenes in The Wolf of Wall Street was improvised between himself and Hill. He told Interview Magazine:
Scorsese would let you improvise. Jonah and I had a really good moment [in The Wolf of Wall Street], which was completely improvised, where I’m questioning their expense account. I said, ‘What is this? $26,000 for these meals?’ He says, ‘Well, we ordered sides.’ Then I said, ‘What kind of sides were these? Did they cure cancer?’ He said, ‘Oddly enough, they did.'”
The whole scene is absolutely iconic and so memorable. The Wolf in general is one of those movies you can turn on at any time, and at any point in the film and still have a good time. The entertainment value is high, while also being a tremendously well written film, even if some of that writing was seemingly done in the moment. DiCaprio credits a lot of the success of that film to the loose set that Scorsese created that allowed actors to play around with the material. He explained:
I think it was one of the most free and exciting and spontaneous and hilarious film productions I’ve ever been apart of. I’ve never seen Martin Scorsese that happy on a set in my life because there were really no rules.
This sounds like an absolute blast. While there was a lot demanded of DiCaprio, like graphic sex scenes, winding monologues and quick comedic timing, it seems like he had an absolute blast. He speaks about that time in his life in the fondest way, and I’d love to see him do something that explosive again. He’s about to work with Scorsese again on What Happens at Night and maybe these two can recreate the same magic. Whatever it is, I can’t wait to see it.
You can revisit Jonah Hill and Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street, which is currently streaming with a Peacock subscription. Fans of DiCaprio should also check out his latest awards nominated performance in One Battle After Another which is now available with an HBO Max subscription.
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