DiCaprio chose Gilbert Grape over Hocus Pocus

Leonardo DiCaprio reveals how he turned down more money than he’d ever dreamt of.

It’s common knowledge that Leonardo DiCaprio turned down the role of Max Dennison in Disney’s beloved comedy Hocus Pocus. However, what we weren’t aware of is that, in deciding against the role, DiCaprio dismissed more money than he had ever dreamed of, the actor revealed in an interview with Variety magazine.

It turns out he declined the gig because he was holding out for a part in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, a small indie that he hadn’t even auditioned for yet. After the actor, who was 18 at that time, turned down the offer of a role in Hocus Pocus it went to Dallas star Omri Katz instead, reported E! Online.

“I don’t know where the hell I got the nerve. You live in an environment where you’re influenced by people telling you to make a lot of money and strike while the iron’s hot. But if there’s one thing I’m very proud of, it’s being a young man who was sticking to my guns,” says DiCaprio, reported the Huffington Post.

Stick to his guns he did. DiCaprio reveals he obsessed over a video of a child with similar mental disabilities as his potential Gilbert Grape character. Lasse Hallström, who’d received a Best Director Oscar nomination for 1985’s film My Life as a Dog, thought DiCaprio was too attractive for the role, but he cast the actor anyway. DiCaprio spent time doing research for the role in special-needs facility before production began. “There were a hundred things I noticed and picked up on, and came to Lasse with a checklist of attributes for the character, he just said, ‘Okay, kid, go for it.’,” adds DiCaprio.

How starring as in a Disney cult classic that opened at No. 4 at the box office would have impacted DiCaprio’s acting legacy is just a speculation. The actor earned his first Oscar nomination for his breakout role in Gilbert Grape, and even though his acting in Hocus Pocus may have been equally brilliant, it is likely that it wouldn’t have garnered the same recognition.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 15^th, 2014.

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