Skip to main content

Will DiCaprio’s next acting challenge be Russian President Vladimir Putin?

Leonardo DiCaprio Joker
BAKOUNINE / Shutterstock.com
Leonardo DiCaprio isn’t interested in fluff roles. In fact, it seems the actor is at a stage in his career where he’s only interested in challenges — and big ones at that. He dove head first into his role as the revenge-obsessed Hugh Glass in The Revenenant and he’ll soon play perhaps the most notorious serial killer in American history, but that hasn’t stopped him from thinking about what infamous and/or complicated characters he might play in the future.

In an interview with German publication Welt am Sonntag (translated by The Guardian), the subject of Russian President Vladimir Putin came up, and the actor called the pugnacious autocrat ““very, very, very interesting,” adding: “I would love to play him.”

He went on to add that he’s something of a student of Russian history and that there are many stories from the country that intrigue him. “I think there should be more films about Russian history because it has many stories worthy of Shakespeare. That is fascinating for an actor. Lenin also would be an interesting role. I would like also like to star as Rasputin.”

We’re just spitballing here but how about an art-house project where he plays all three in the same movie? It would take some talented people to pull that off but, these days, it seems like anything’s possible for The Revenant star, who is riding a wave of positive press in his quest to notch his first-ever Best Actor Oscar.

Fans may remember that Putin famously called DiCaprio a “muzhik” or “real man” for his perseverance during a difficult and oft-deterred visit to the country, and Leo has reportedly described himself as “half Russian” in the past.

We’ll be sure to let you know when/if there is any effort to actually make this happen, but if nothing else, it’s a glimpse into the mind of one of biggest actors on the planet right now.

Editors' Recommendations

Leonardo DiCaprio set to produce movie about the Volkswagen emissions scandal
Leonardo DiCaprio Joker

The story of Volkswagen's emissions scandal is getting the Hollywood treatment, and Leonaro DiCaprio will be riding along. According to Variety, the actor-slash-producer is set to produce the upcoming Paramount film, along with Jennifer Davisson, his Appian Way Productions colleague.

As a notable environmentalist, it's fitting that DiCaprio would want to get in on a project that chronicles the discovery of illegal software in clean diesel cars that violated Environmental Protection Agency standards. The world was shocked when it came out that the respected German automaker had been cheating on emissions tests. In light of the scandal, Volkswagen faces $18 billion in fines from the EPA and has had to begin restructuring.

Read more
We now know why Christian Bale and Leonardo DiCaprio passed on Steve Jobs
Fassbender Steve Jobs Movie Aaron Sorkin

The critics’ verdict is in and Michael Fassbender seems to have hit it out of the park as Apple visionary Steve Jobs … but he wasn’t the first choice to play the role.

While we have known for a while now that both Christian Bale and Leonardo DiCaprio passed on the part, thanks to The Hollywood Reporter, we now know why.

Read more
The Revenant gets an officially official trailer
fall 2015 movie guide the revenant

Nowadays, most big-ticket Hollywood movies are promoted with a teaser trailer, the trailer(s) before the trailer, and then the official trailer. Alejandro González Iñárritu’s The Revenant is following that same formula.

Released yesterday, this latest trailer is almost three minutes long, and reveals much more about the plot than did the last. So far, we know that Frontiersman Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) is mauled by a bear, sees his son murdered in front of him, and is buried alive from the neck down, yet somehow survives. It also appears that his son -- referred to as “half-breed” by John Fitzgerald (Hardy) -- has Native American blood. Of course, that still leaves quite a few gaps that need filling. Here’s a snippet of the official synopsis:

Read more