John C. Reilly once tried to talk Leonardo DiCaprio out of the movie that turned him into a global obsession.
The actor recently recalled how he personally met with DiCaprio and urged him to choose ‘Boogie Nights’ over ‘Titanic.’ Yes, that ‘Titanic.’ The one that became a box-office monster and made DiCaprio’s Jack Dawson a permanent pop-culture fixture.
At the time, though, Reilly had a very different pitch. Why pick a movie about a doomed ship when Paul Thomas Anderson was making something bold, strange and risky?
John C. Reilly Tried To Change DiCaprio’s Mind
Reilly shared the story on the ‘Where Everybody Knows Your Name’ podcast with Ted Danson. He said ‘Boogie Nights’ was a tough sell in the late 1990s because of its setting inside the adult-film world.
“Back when we were trying to get ‘Boogie Nights’ off the ground, the idea of being in a movie about porn was pretty taboo,” Reilly said. “It’s hard to believe now.”
He added that actors, managers and agents were getting nervous about the project’s subject matter.
“Porn? Whoa, hold up. No way,” Reilly recalled them saying.
Anderson eventually cast Mark Wahlberg as Eddie Adams, who becomes adult-film star Dirk Diggler. Before that, Reilly said Anderson wanted DiCaprio for the role.
The ‘Titanic’ Pitch Did Not Impress Reilly
Reilly had already worked with DiCaprio and Mary Steenburgen on ‘What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.’ So he thought he could help Anderson make the case.
“I’d known Leo since he was 17, so I told Paul, ‘Let me handle this,'” Reilly said.
He met DiCaprio at a cafe in Silver Lake and gave him a pitch that now sounds wildly funny in hindsight.
“Listen, Leo, here’s the deal,” Reilly said he told him. “That movie, ‘Titanic,’ it’s about a boat that sinks. Everyone already knows that!”
Reilly said he tried to convince DiCaprio that audiences would care more about Anderson’s rising talent than a story with a famous ending.
He also told him Anderson “was going to be one of the most talented directors of our generation.”
DiCaprio Later Called It A Regret
DiCaprio, however, had agents telling him ‘Titanic’ could be huge. Reilly said he pushed back, insisting he would not lead him wrong.
It did not work. DiCaprio chose ‘Titanic,’ and the 1997 James Cameron romance became one of the most successful films ever made.
Still, the decision apparently stayed with him. In an Esquire interview last August, DiCaprio called turning down ‘Boogie Nights’ his “biggest regret.”
Reilly said he understands why the choice may have lingered.
“I can’t speak for him, but I think the massive success of ‘Titanic’ was a double-edged sword,” Reilly said. “It was a lot for a young actor to handle.”
DiCaprio eventually worked with Anderson on the Oscar-winning ‘There Will Be Blood.’ So maybe Reilly’s pitch was just a few years early. The boat sank, Jack became immortal and Hollywood still got its DiCaprio-Anderson chapter in the end.
