Leonardo DiCaprio Opens Up: Why Directing Is Off the Table

Leonardo DiCaprio says he has no plans to become a director, and it’s all because of Martin Scorsese. The actor, 51, shared his thoughts during a conversation with the legendary filmmaker at TIME magazine’s A Year in TIME event in New York City on December 10.

DiCaprio has worked with Scorsese on six films, and he says he could never live up to the director’s level of greatness. “Some people have asked me if I wanted to direct. I’m like, ‘I would never want to direct. I could never do anything close to what Martin Scorsese does. Why would I do that?’” he explained.

Even though he doesn’t want to direct, DiCaprio said he wishes he had spent more time watching the filmmaking process on his past movies. “You play these characters, you try to get into the depth of their soul as much as you possibly can. And I would’ve loved to be much more of a voyeur … to watch what you (Scorsese) do behind the camera,” he said.

The actor also described the way he and Scorsese work together. They spend months planning, discussing, and debating ideas before filming starts. “That’s been our process a lot, I think, working together … the ability to almost have a debate for months before and lots of questions, and lots of playing devil’s advocate about a way to approach things that may not be the most obvious direction,”

DiCaprio said. “We’re doing that on the new film that we’re doing now, but it’s been absolutely one of the most profound learning experiences.”

Working with Scorsese has been one of DiCaprio’s proudest moments. “I grew up watching movies very young — wanting to be an actor. My father brought me to see Marty’s work, along with Mr. [Robert] De Niro’s, and said, ‘If there’s anyone you want to strive to work with in your career, now that you have the capability of doing movies, it’s with this gentleman.’ So I got to see Marty’s work very, very early on,” he said.

DiCaprio and Scorsese first collaborated on Gangs of New York in 2002. Since then, they have worked together on The Aviator, The Departed, and Killers of the Flower Moon. Their seventh movie, What Happens at Night, is currently being filmed, with DiCaprio starring alongside Jennifer Lawrence in an adaptation of the Peter Cameron novel.

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