Every day, AlloCiné recommends a film to (re)watch on TV. Tonight: a Sam Raimi western with DiCaprio.
After appearing on television from the age of 14, Leonardo DiCaprio was chosen from 400 candidates to play the abused stepson of Robert De Niro in Secret Wounds in 1993. Subsequently, the budding comedian stole the show from Johnny Depp in Gilbert Grape, where he lends his features to a boy with intellectual disabilities. His composition earned him a double nomination as Best Supporting Actor at the Golden Globes and at the 1994 Oscars.
His talent was then spotted by Sharon Stone. Fresh out of the success of Basic Instinct, the latter was named co-producer of the western Dead or Alive, of which she is also the headliner. After choosing Sam Raimi as director, as well as Russell Crowe (still unknown to the American public) among the cast, the actress pleads with the studios to hire Leonardo DiCaprio in the role of Fee “The Kid” Herod, even if it means paying half his salary out of his own pocket.
However, the young man refuses the film, which he considers “too commercial”, before changing his mind. If he continues with a biopic on Arthur Rimbaud (Rimbaud Verlaine) and a drama on the ravages of drugs (Basketball Diaries), it was not until 1996 that Leonardo DiCaprio was elevated to stardom thanks to Romeo + Juliette.
On the western side, the actor returned to it in 2013 by playing a sadistic landowner in Django Unchained, then in 2016 in The Revenant, where his performance as an intrepid scout thirsting for revenge earned him the first Oscar for Best Actor in his career.
Dead or Alive by Sam Raimi with Sharon Stone, Leonardo DiCaprio, Gene Hackman…
From 10 years old
Tonight on C8 at 9:20 p.m.