Robert De Niro Reveals His 1st Impression Of Killers Of The Flower Moon Co-Star Leonardo DiCaprio

From their first meeting, veteran actor Robert De Niro recognized Leonardo DiCaprio's unique potential and stood by the Hollywood star to producers. The two first met when DiCaprio went for an audition for the 1993 drama This Boy's Life, which also starred De Niro. Although DiCaprio had not tried out for the lead role of Tobias, De Niro expressed to the producer how much the young actor's audition impressed him.

Robert De Niro-Leonardo DiCaprio’s first encounter

Talking about his first meeting with DiCaprio, De Niro told People, “I said to Art Linson, the producer, I said, ‘Art, that kid was really, it was interesting.’ I didn't push it. I just said, ‘That kid had something special,’ and then they turned around and wound up using Leo."

The 80-year-old star and DiCaprio went on to work with each other on the 1996 drama Marvin’s Room and the 2023 western crime drama film Killers of the Flower Moon. 

Leonardo DiCaprio on his working experience with Robert De Niro

Speaking about their Killers of the Flower Moon characters, where he played the nephew of De Niro's character, DiCaprio recently told Deadline, "I happened to have done a film [titled] This Boy's Life where I had an abusive stepfather in De Niro. So it was this insanely coincidental, full circle, sort of similar relationship.

“It felt like I was stepping into the same or a similar character 30 years later, grown up. (De Niro) was still (playing) this abusive character. He was the abusive stepfather.”

“Developing Ernest (DiCaprio's character) was interesting because out of all the stuff that I researched — all his writings, all the testimony, speaking to relatives in Oklahoma — the one resounding consistent element was that this man was quite slow and easily manipulated, that (De Niro's character) Hale had this mental stronghold over him.”

He also spoke about the thrill he got from working with De Niro and director Martin Scorsese and the awe he felt at the "dual relationship between actor and filmmaker."

(with inputs from IANS)