10. Leonardo DiCaprio personally requested his role in Tarantino’s Django Unchained
We often assume that directors get in touch with actors they feel would be right for certain parts (especially directors like Quentin Tarantino), although in the case of Django Unchained, Leonardo DiCaprio called Tarantino after reading the script and enquired about the part of Calvin Candie. The two had been hanging out on and off for 15 years or so, and Tarantino made a habit of sending DiCaprio his scripts (just in case).
“He got this one [Django Unchained] and really liked Calvin Candie,” Tarantino told Playboy earlier this year. “Leo was younger than I had initially written, but I read it again and could see no reason why the character couldn’t be younger. And since I’m hitting hard this notion of the American South re-creating European aristocracy in this amateur make-it-up-as-you-go-along fashion, the notion of him as the boy emperor was cool.”
We think so too.
Enjoy this article? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.