Paul Thomas Anderson‘s latest film, “One Battle After Another,” arrives in theaters this weekend, which sees the director finally work with Leonardo DiCaprio, who once nearly starred in his 1997 landmark pic “Boogie Nights,” which he was asked about in a recent interview alongside his thoughts on never directing Tom Cruise in a “Mission: Impossible” film.
When asked by the French newspaper Le Figaro (translated by Google from French to English) why he never reunited with his “Magnolia” actor for a “Mission: Impossible” installment, the response has PTA lamenting that he was never called up to do it and believes that the window has closed for that to happen.
“I would have loved to, but I never received his phone call. I was very disappointed. I think he’s done with ‘Mission: Impossible,’ so it’s not going to happen,” PTA bluntly stated.
Also, when asked about DiCaprio passing on “Boogie Nights” due to the subject matter of the world of porn, for James Cameron‘s accessible box office juggernaut “Titanic.” DiCaprio has said not making the movie was one of his bigger regrets, and the part of the California runaway turned pornstar Dirk Diggler would go to Mark Wahlberg, who, oddly enough, has since distanced himself from the movie.
PTA was very candid and sympathetic to DiCaprio’s decision to attract a larger audience: “You should ask [Leo]. I don’t want to speak too much for him, but he had the choice between ‘Boogie Nights’ and ‘Titanic,’ and I think he felt it was important at that point in his career to make a film that could appeal to a wide audience. I can understand that. He had already made several arthouse films, very interesting but more confidential.”
READ MORE: Paul Thomas Anderson Says He Began Working On ‘One Battle After Another’ 20 Years Ago
We have to assume that PTA’s “arthouse films” mention was referring to DiCaprio’s early career-defining projects, such as “This Boy’s Life,” which saw him co-starring with Robert De Niro (who pointed him out to pal Martin Scorsese), his Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his stellar performance in “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape,” and the based-on-true-events drug addiction drama “The Basketball Diaries,” the latter ironically co-starring with a young Wahlberg (the two would later reunite in Scorsese’s “The Departed“).
The current climate of political violence in the United States was also brought up in the interview, as the fictional movie features fictional political radicals fighting back against an oppressive government, the interviewer citing the recent murders of right-wing podcaster Charlie Kirk and Democrat Melissa Hortman, the Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives, and her husband. “It is a horrible murder. I don’t think you can bring it back to my film, an action comedy that is very far from reality. I’m just trying to sell movie tickets for a fiction movie,” PTA responded to the provoking question.
We’re extremely thankful that ultimately PTA and DiCaprio linked up for “One Battle After Another,” and now audiences can experience the film for themselves.
- Christopher Marc
- Christopher Marc
- Christopher Marc
- Christopher Marc
- Christopher Marc
- Christopher Marc
- Christopher Marc
