Leonardo DiCaprio did not play James Dean because he was too small, and the reason why the movie was not made increased.
Director Michael Mann recently recalled in a Deadline interview with the interviewer that before he made ‘Heat’ (1995), he was going to make a biopic of the famous Hollywood “prodigal son” James Dean, and he saw Leonardo DiCaprio to star in it. .
But at the time, 19-year-old Leonardo DiCaprio looked too young, Michael Mann grew tired of waiting for him to grow up, and finally did not shoot.
Michael Mann said, “The James Dean movie was weird, the script was great, and then the question came up, ‘Who the hell can play James Dean?’ And then I found this guy who could play James Dean, but he was too young, and that was Leonardo DiCaprio.
“Dean started acting at 20 and was 24 when he died, but at that time Leonardo DiCaprio would have been young and known for his baby face and teenage sense and boyishness, Michael Mann said: “We did test shots at the time and it was great, I think he was 19 at the time.
From a certain point of view, he totally has Dean’s look, I mean, it’s really great.
When he turns his face to one direction, we can see a certain version of James Dean, and then he turns his face to another direction, there is no longer that feeling, there is a small child in front of the camera.
“The interviewer laughed that the situation sounded like “I couldn’t make it with him and I couldn’t make it without him,” and Mann laughed: “He scrapped the James Dean biopic for me with respect.”
