Atlanta, GA 12/6/2010 2:17:51 AM
Leonardo DiCaprio tried to impress Robert De Niro by being “menacing”.
The ‘Inception’ actor struggled to know how to make a
lasting impression on the legendary actor when he was auditioning for
him at the age of 16 before settling on the idea of seeming threatening.
He said: “I was 13 years old when I first saw De Niro onscreen. My dad
had taken me to see ‘Midnight Run’ at the movies. And just before the
film started, he pointed to the screen and said, ‘You want to watch a
great actor? Now that guy is cool!’
“Three years later I was auditioning for ‘This Boy’s Life’, my first
film role, and I knew he’d already been cast. So I watched as many as
De Niro’s movies as I could beforehand. And I asked myself over and
over again, ‘What is the one quality that De Niro would see in me that
he would respect? And then it came to me, menace.”
Discussing his enjoyment of working with director Martin Scorsese –
with whom he has collaborated with on four films – Leonardo admits it
is because his movies are like “art”.
He told FHM magazine: “Working with people like Scorsese and watching
classic old films that are really pieces of art, I want to make sure
that if I’m going to invest my time and energy into something and give
myself to it, I want it to be something that last. I want it to be
special and original.”
