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.
