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Leonardo DiCaprio (2020): Once too young for James Dean role
Photo:
Jordan Strauss / dpa
Actor Leonardo DiCaprio apparently almost embodied film icon James Dean at the tender age of 19.
However, director Michael Mann was simply too young for the role – which is why he completely rejected his project.
In an interview with the entertainment magazine Deadline, Mann revealed that he wanted to film the life of the actor, who died young, in the mid-1990s.
“It was a brilliant screenplay.
And then there was the question of who the hell could play James Dean,' Mann said.
There was a potential candidate – but he was actually too young for him: the then 19-year-old Leonardo DiCaprio.
Nevertheless, DiCaprio auditioned.
“From one angle, he totally had it.
It was brilliant.
He turned his face one way and we saw a vision of James Dean,” Mann recalled.
"Then he turned his face the other way - and no, that's a child."
He thought DiCaprio was perfect for a James Dean impersonation and no one else, Mann said - but he wasn't developed enough until three years later.
That's why he decided to put the project on hold for the time being, Mann said.
»He respectfully undid the biography for me.« Mann then decided to direct the crime thriller »Heat«, which became an international success.
DiCaprio's breakthrough role came in 1996's Romeo and Juliet and 1997's Titanic.
Whether DiCaprio will ever play James Dean again is an open question.
Sol