John C. Reilly revealed that he once did his best to dissuade young Leonardo DiCaprio from doing so. Titanic, and rather in a film about an adult star.
The actor shared the story on Ted Danson’s show. Where everyone knows your name podcast, recalling how director Paul Thomas Anderson had desperately wanted DiCaprio to play the lead role in Boogie evenings before Mark Wahlberg was cast.
Reilly, who was close friends with Anderson at the time, volunteered to make the pitch personally.
“Give me the assignment, Paul. I’m going to get this guy to do your movie. I’ve known him since he was a kid,” he told the director, after meeting DiCaprio for the first time on the set of What eats grapes Gilbert in 1993, when Leo was just 17 years old.
The problem was that DiCaprio had already been offered Titanic.
Reilly’s argument for turning down the offer was, in retrospect, some of the most spectacularly misjudged career advice in Hollywood history.
“Listen, Leo, let me tell you something. This movie Titanic It’s the story of a sinking ship,” he told her.
“Everyone knows the boat is sinking. Nobody gives a damn who’s on the boat.”
DiCaprio was torn. His agents assured him Titanic would be huge.
Reilly was also insistent, asking him not to miss working with Anderson, who he believed would become one of the great directors of his generation.
“I’m telling you, man. I’m telling you, I wouldn’t give you a job here,” he said. “This is a sinking ship.”
DiCaprio went with Titanicwhich remains one of the highest-grossing films of all time and made him a global superstar at age 22.
Wahlberg took the Boogie evenings much appreciated role.
It took another 25 years for DiCaprio and Anderson to finally work together. One battle after another.
“It was very satisfying for me,” Reilly joked. “It was like, ‘Finally, he took my advice. It took 25 years or something.'”
