We already know that the shoot for Alejandro G. Iñárritu‘s "The Revenant" was difficult. But it’s still pretty surprising to hear the extent of just how arduous the production was, with the director setting up almost every obstacle he possibly could, only to overcoming each to make a movie that’s surely an Oscar contender, if only for the performance of Leonardo DiCaprio. And in a recent chat with Wired, the actor detailed what he faced on set when it came time to perform.
"We had months of rehearsal beforehand, but every day was like doing a play. Each actor, each bit of the set, needed to be like gears in a Swiss watch, because the camera was moving around and you had to have your timing perfect," DiCaprio said. "So we rehearsed every day, and then we had a two-hour window of natural light to shoot. … [Iñárritu] would have the camera veer off to this expansive battle sequence, then come right back to another intimate moment with the character. They had coordinated all that stuff with a lot of precision. But of course when we got there, the elements sort of took over."
You can get a glimpse of the result in the heart-pounding, first clip below. "The Revenant" opens in limited release on Christmas Day and everywhere on January 8th.