Leonardo DiCaprio: My Competitors Kill Themselves
After he made Titanic, Leonardo DiCaprio had his first choice of roles, and he passed on a good many of them, including Spider-Man and Anakin Skywalker. But what was it like for DiCaprio before that breakthrough success? As he tells Rolling Stone, he had two main competitors for parts, but they're both dead now.
See if you can put together who he's referring to as he recounts his old partying days:
"I got to be wild and nuts, and I didn't suffer as much as people do now, where they have to play it so safe that they ruin their credibility. I didn't care what anyone thought... It was also about avoiding the tornado of chaos, of potential downfall. It was, 'Wow, how lucky are we to not have hung out with that crowd or done those things?' My two main competitors in the beginning, the blond-haired kids I went to audition with, one hung himself and the other died of a heroin overdose... I was never into drugs at all. There aren't stories of me in a pool of my own vomit in a hotel room on the Hollywood Strip."
So, Jonathan Brandis and River Phoenix? It's hard to imagine an alternate universe where the Seaquest DSV star might be the one starring in Inception, but it's an interesting dream nevertheless...or have I missed somebody?
Leonardo DiCaprio Faces His Demons: Inside the New Issue of Rolling Stone [Rolling Stone]
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I completely forgot about Jonathan Brandis dying! Man, now I'm bummed out again.
The heroin overdose is probably Brad Renfro.
Either way, tact is not Leo's strong suit.
Definitely not him since he was almost 10 (or was 10) years younger than Leo and by the time Leo was gearing for more young adult roles, he was still doing teen roles. He was 25 with Leo being around 35 when he died and after Leo already did Titanic and stuff. I believe his "competition" would of been ones who passed not too shortly before or after titanic as well as anyone his age that has had known to audition along side or against him which has been what everyone has stated: Bandis, Pettit and Phoenix
Christopher Pettiet was going for the same rolls as him and he was much better looking than Jonathan Brandis so I agree with you
Def Brandis and River. Look up their pictures - striking similarities between the three actors. I forgot about Brandis too, poor guy.
DiCaprio and Phoenix were fewer years apart than DiCaprio and Renfro. I think Phoenix was probably more his competition.
The day I found out about Jonathan Brandis it broke my 9-year-old-self's heart. At 9 I was convinced we would be married one day. I still watch Ladybugs and Sidekick from time to time.
Wasn't Pheonix pretty established as an actor & well into leading roles when DiCaprio was still on Growing Pains? Renfro seems more likely to me.
Leo is eight years older than Brad. I _suppose_ it's possible they might have been auditioning for the same parts, but I doubt it. Plus he specifies "in the beginning" which means before any of them were getting booked for big roles. I still say it's Phoenix.
It's HANGED. Not hung. PET PEEVE.
Only paintings and pornstars are hung.
Not just pornstars. Ahem.
He is talking about Brandis and CHristoper Pettiet
Yeah, but my alliteration sounds nice.
I watched Don't Tell Mom... the other day and had to google Mr Pettiet to see what he had been up to. Sad.
yes, it's Christopher Pettiet. a quick google image search shows unearths a picture of Chris, Tobey Maguire, and Leo hanging out and YOUNG.
Leo is one of my heros especially after watching the documentary he produced and narrated called "The Eleventh Hour" a few years back. He is a real visionary along with being a good actor.
Leo was never, and will never ever be the actor River Phoenix was!
I remember when River died that is when Leo started to get more offers and publicity because he was being touted as "The next River Phoenix". So Leo is probably happy River is gone because he got to fill in that role but I don't give a **** how man Martin has been Scorsese movies Leo gets, He will never be as great as River. Jonathan Brandis died too early, but he probably could have had a great career later on if he didn't die.
As another post-er said, Leo is referring to Christopher Pettiet and Jonathan Brandis. He's not disparaging them, but rather acknowledging the reality of hard drugs and how he himself dodged a bullet.
River Phoenix was about four years older and more established. He was someone Leo looked up to more than a competitor.
Leo did This Boy's Life with Robert DeNiro (who recommended him to Scorsese), and What's Eating Gilbert Grape (for which he received his first Oscar nomination) before River Phoenix died, so he was well on his way to a big career.
River will always be one of my favorite actors, but it's hard to compare the two now because Leo has done so much quality work.
late chimer-inner....the heroin overdose is River Phoenix. I can't remember if the quote I'm thinking about is from the above RS article or an earlier one, but he mentions having seen Phoenix at a club just hours before he died outside the Viper Room. He would have been 19 yrs old (or a week shy of 19) to River Phoenix's 23 yrs. Not a huge age span in Hollywood, especially since Phoenix was still portraying teens. Additionally, Brad Renfro was not a professional actor at this point and hadn't even been cast in his first paid role at this point. DiCaprio didn't have Phoenix's fame in late 1993 but he had enough cred in Hollywood at this point to get into major auditions and CA's. When Phoenix died, DiCaprio already had an impressive list of credits, including Marvin's Room, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, & This Boy's Life.
It's not River Phoenix. It's Brandis and Chris Pettiet. Pettiet even auditioned for the same role on "Growing Pains"
The overdose victim is definitely Chris Pettit considering he did audition against Leo a lot of time, but I do think River Pheonix was another competition too as him and Leo were in the same boat. While River was more of a cult teen heartthrob, and a loved hipster/vegan that was sure well before his time (he would of fitted in great, this current 2014 time as far as Hollywood tabloid crazes go) with a Bieber like appeal (super big and popular, but at the end of the day he's no Micheal Jackson) and Leo was having a string of very successful tv and movie stints and was the cute boy next door type who was still a little fresh, they both really had not landed anything truly iconic just yet and were still one of those "top 5 teen stars to look out for" types who equally filled the teen magazine and some more serious outlets. The iconic role for Leo was Jack Dawson. James Cameron originally wanted River to play Jack in Titanic and that would of catipulted him to a for sure into the career Leo has now. So since Leo was pretty much second best, it is safe to say that Leo and River were on the same level of Hollywood acclaim (while any can argue their active skills, or that River did better movies than Leo....whatever) and that River was no doubt a competition to Leo.
I doubt it is River Phoenix Leo is talking about. Brandis. Yes. Phoenix. No. There has to be another actor around the same age as Leo was back in the early 90s.
Phoenix wasn't already established; he actually got casted as the interviewer for The Interview with The Vampire movie starring Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise.. He was shooting another film, so they waited for him to finish up and complete the interviewer scenes. Sadly, he died shortly after this time. Christian Slater too over this movie role.
Leo was nominated for What's Eating Gilbert Grape after Rover's death. River was already on cusp of A-list status, while Leo needed the ship of dreams to get him there 4 years later.
Who is another young actor during the early 90's that competed against Leonardo besides this Chris kid?
Meant Phoenix was already established with Indiana Jones and Stand By Me and other promising roles.
But Leo talked about the 'blond-haired kids'. Chris Pettiet seems to be dark-haired tho. Or were his hair brighter when he was younger? Nonetheless I thought his comment was pretty harsh. R.I.P. Jonathan
Phoenix was way too established for Leo to even compete against him. When River died he gave way to Brad Pitt.... "Interview with the Vampire..."
Brandis and Phoenix. Whether Phoenix was established is irrelevant. Besides, he wasn't that established: he was still considered a neophyte by Hollywood standards and was still in the early stages of his transition. He did not get as much press as it might seem - in part because he avoided it and (despite what people read about him now) he spent much of his time isolated, away from Hollywood (leading a boring, granola-infused lifestyle, as the press believed), and as such, avoided being in the tabloids. scene.
By 1992, DiCaprio had graduated to film and his name was on every major casting agent's list. Pettiet might have been Leo's competition in the late 80s, but very briefly. Also, Pettiet dies from an overdose, but it was not a heroin overdose. The likeliest reason Phoenix is the other competitor: he was attached to the Basketball Diaries and Total Eclipse.
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