Leonardo DiCaprio is NOT playing Rumi
All the Twitter outrage scared him maybe?
All the Twitter outrage scared him maybe?
Leonardo DiCaprio won't be guilty of 'whitewashing', after all, as he has decided not to play Rumi in an upcoming biopic on the Sufi mystic.
Earlier this month, producers David Franzoni and Stephen Joel Brown created furore when they said they wanted DiCaprio -- a white actor -- to play the role of the 13th century old poet -- who was born in Afghanistan.
Leo wasn't the only actor touted to be playing a non-white character; Robert Downey Jr was said to star as Shams of Tabriz in the same movie. “This is the level of casting that we’re talking about,” The Guardian had reported Stephan as saying.
Too white: DiCaprio not acceptable as Rumi
However, a latest report in The Hollywood Reporter quotes a source close to Leo as saying, “He hasn’t been asked, but regardless he will not be pursuing the project. He’s finishing his forthcoming climate-change documentary.”
Leo hasn’t acted in nearly two years since his Oscar-winning performance in The Revenant and he hasn't signed any upcoming projects. He is currently vacationing with model girlfriend Nina Adgal in the Bahamas.
Rumi wasn't yours: Afghan fury as Iran, Turkey claim Sufi poet
“It’s shocking that Leo stopped working at the peak of his career and went on hiatus," reports Page Six.
Although he has not shared what he will be working on next, chances are he might consider Ben Affleck's upcoming directorial Live by Night and a horror-thriller Delirium.
Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.
Earlier this month, producers David Franzoni and Stephen Joel Brown created furore when they said they wanted DiCaprio -- a white actor -- to play the role of the 13th century old poet -- who was born in Afghanistan.
Leo wasn't the only actor touted to be playing a non-white character; Robert Downey Jr was said to star as Shams of Tabriz in the same movie. “This is the level of casting that we’re talking about,” The Guardian had reported Stephan as saying.
Too white: DiCaprio not acceptable as Rumi
However, a latest report in The Hollywood Reporter quotes a source close to Leo as saying, “He hasn’t been asked, but regardless he will not be pursuing the project. He’s finishing his forthcoming climate-change documentary.”
Leo hasn’t acted in nearly two years since his Oscar-winning performance in The Revenant and he hasn't signed any upcoming projects. He is currently vacationing with model girlfriend Nina Adgal in the Bahamas.
Rumi wasn't yours: Afghan fury as Iran, Turkey claim Sufi poet
“It’s shocking that Leo stopped working at the peak of his career and went on hiatus," reports Page Six.
Although he has not shared what he will be working on next, chances are he might consider Ben Affleck's upcoming directorial Live by Night and a horror-thriller Delirium.
Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.