Did Johnny Depp Really View $10M Movie Co-star, Whom He Confessed Torturing On Set, as a ‘Threat’
Johnny Depp has enjoyed a pretty successful film career, cementing himself at the peak of Hollywood with the iconic franchise, Pirates of the Caribbean, and breaking the $1 billion box office collection mark with Alice in Wonderland.
But the 60-year-old’s life behind the camera has been equally flashy and has attracted more or less the same number of eyeballs – but not always for good reasons.
Chiefly, his relationship and its aftermath with Amber Heard earned him plenty of negative spotlight and fed the media and fans alike with plenty of old secrets and feuds.
Was Johnny Depp Threatened by His Co-Star Leonardo Dicaprio
Johnny Depp worked alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in the 1993 movie What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. He played the role of his big brother who finds himself stuck between taking care of his intellectually disabled brother Arnie and his love interest Becky.
While Arnie struggled in the plot of the movie, DiCaprio, who played the character endured a tough time behind the scenes, as Depp confessed to torturing the young actor. He said: “I tortured him. I really did. He was always talking about these video games, you know?”
Depp also admitted that he was going through a dark phase in his life at the time. The movie with DiCaprio was released in 1993, the same year he parted ways with long-term partner Winona Ryder. It proved to be a huge disaster with a total domestic gross of $10 million, but it was well-received by critics and is now considered a classic.
Whether his personal issues with Ryder influenced his behavior on the set remains unknown.
Years later, DiCaprio again came into the equation when Heard, Depp’s former wife, revealed in her statement during his libel trial against British tabloid The Sun that the Secret Window star accused her of having an affair with her co-stars during their marriage. She said:
“He accused me of having affairs with each of my co-stars, movie after movie: Eddie Redmayne, James Franco, Jim Sturgess, Kevin Costner, Liam Hemsworth, Billy-Bob Thornton, Channing Tatum; even women co-stars like Kelly Garner. He also accused me of having affairs with stars I auditioned with, like Leonardo DiCaprio. He would taunt me about it – especially when he was drunk or high – and had derogatory nicknames for every one of my male co-stars he considered a se*ual threat.”
The Aquaman actress added that the nickname for DiCaprio was ‘pumpkin-head’.
What Johnny Depp Thinks About Leonardo Dicaprio
As per his ex-wife, Depp insulted DiCaprio but as far as public comments from the Captain Jack Sparrow actor are concerned, there’s huge respect in his heart for his What’s Eating Gilbert Grape co-star.
“I’d say the absolute truth is that I respect Leo a lot. He worked really hard on that film and spent a lot of time researching. He came to set, and he was ready to work hard, and all his ducks were in a row,”
Despite the admiration, the two brilliant actors, who both made their breakthroughs in the entertainment industry through sitcoms, never collaborated again for a major project.
Still, almost three decades later, they are going strong in Hollywood. Depp recently impressed with his period drama movie Jeanne du Barry and DiCaprio is exciting fans with his reunion with Martin Scorsese for Killers of the Flower Moon, which is scheduled to release later this year.
Source: BBC
Read more: “I can do this with you”: Jonah Hill Begged to Get His Role in Leonardo DiCaprio’s Movie
