„He Could Have Made A Lot of Money.” Leonardo DiCaprio Has Agreed to A 90% Pay Cut and Has Earned The Respect of Clint Eastwood Forever

Source: J. Edgar, Clint Eastwood, Warner Bros. Pictures, 2011

i

Leonardo DiCaprio is one of Hollywood's top stars. The actor has earned his position in the industry, thanks to which he can count on good offers from producers and can also pick and choose from roles that interest him. One can also guess that DiCaprio's pay is one of the highest in Hollywood, given the actor's position.

However, there are situations when an American is ready to give up a lot of money if a role particularly interests him. Or if he cares about working with a certain filmmaker, which was the case when he competed for a role in J. Edgar, with Clint Eastwood behind the camera. DiCaprio was interested in working with the cinema legend, and as a result he reportedly reduced his rate by as much as 90% from $20 million to $2 million. J. Edgar didn’t have a big budget, so the producers could not offer him his standard pay.

DiCaprio often seeks new challenges and isn’t afraid to take on projects that differ from his previous ones. J. Edgar was an opportunity for him to diversify his own filmography. Eastwood recognized this, knowing that the actor could have chosen another project that would have earned him more, but he still set his sights on starring in a production about the FBI director.

This is how Clint Eastwood commented on Leonardo DiCaprio's decision to star in his movie:

Eastwood clearly appreciated DiCaprio's decision, with which the actor apparently earned the director's respect. Unfortunately, the movie on which they collaborated wasn’t a big success, instead facing considerable criticism, although the Oscar-winning actor's performance was appreciated by reviewers.