Anytime Leonardo DiCaprio takes on a new role, the chances are high that it’ll be one worth considering for awards buzz, and that’s pretty much been the case for the past 30 years, since he co-starred in one of the biggest blockbusters of all time, James Cameron’s Titanic. Of course, if Leo’s former co-star John C. Reilly had anything to do with it, Kate Winslet’s Rose might have been wooed by a completely different actor as Jack.
DiCaprio teamed up for the first time with Paul Thomas Anderson for One Battle After Another, a big winner at this year’s Oscars. But the icons came close-ish to working together in the late ’90s for Boogie Nights, and the actor has voiced some Sliding Doors-esque regrets about not signing on to play Dirk Diggler, a role that went to Mark Wahlberg. Now, Reilly has spoken out about his advisory role in that process, which arguably amounts to some of the worst career guidance imaginable.
Appearing on Ted Danson’s podcast Where Everybody Knows Your Name, streaming on YouTube, the actor shared that he thought he was doing a former co-star a solid by steering him clear of working on Titanic. As he put it:
Before Mark was asked to do the movie, Paul really wanted Leo DiCaprio to do it. And I had already done What's Eating Gilbert Grape with Mary [Steenburgen] and Leo and I knew Leo. I met him when he was 17. And and I was like, ‘Give me the assignment, Paul. I'll get this guy to do your movie. I know him since he's a kid.’
At that point, Anderson's only produced feature was 1996's Hard Eight. And while it was acclaimed upon its release, it didn't exactly eclipse all of James Cameron's previous accomplishments. But John C. Reilly still tried to woo the young actor by playing up the same kind of criticisms that Cameron faced as his production's budget expanded beyond expectations. Namely, that nobody wanted to see that historical tragedy on the big screen. He continued:
So I go and meet him, and Leo had been offered Titanic. And I sat down with him on Hillhurst there in Silver Lake and I was like, ‘Listen, Leo, let me tell you something. That movie Titanic is about a boat that sinks. Everyone knows the boat sinks. No one's going to give about who's on the boat. And I was like, ‘This guy, this director, yeah, is going to be one of the most talented film directors going forward and you should not miss this opportunity.’
To be fair, John C. Reilly also addressed the idea that in 1997, making a breezy Hollywood movie about a well-endowed porn star wasn't exactly the norm, and may not have seemed like the most promising role to DiCaprio, especially when he already had a major part locked down.
The way Reilly puts it, DiCaprio doesn't seem like he was ever truly invested in taking his buddy's advice, especially when it ran counter to all the other counsel he'd been hearing from those hired to guide his career. The Walk Hard actor said:
And he was like, ‘Well, I don't know. Like, my agents are all — they're saying this is going to be a really big movie and I should do it.’ And I was like, ‘I'm telling you, man. I'm telling you, I wouldn't give you a bum steer here. Like, it's about a boat that sinks.’ And so the rest is history.
Interestingly enough, Mark Wahlberg met with James Cameron for Titanic, although he was far more interested in driving around in the director’s Hummer than showing off his acting skills. Less than 10 years later, Wahlberg and DiCaprio shared the screen in Martin Scorsese’s The Departed, though I’d love to know if that movie would have still happened had their 1997 movie roles been switched.
DiCaprio is once again working with Scorsese for a psychological horror movie releasing in 2026, What Happens at Night, with Jennifer Lawrence, Mads Mikkelsen and Patricia Clarkson co-starring. Meanwhile, John C. Reilly will next be seen in the upcoming action movie How to Rob a Bank from John Wick’s David Leitch. Maybe we’ll hear one day that Reilly tried to talk Keanu Reeves out of playing that franchise’s vengeful hitman.
Latest episode of the Fans can find Titanic streaming via Paramount+ subscription, so if it’s been a while since you’ve seen that ol’ movie about a boat sinking, look no further.
