Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio has called his decision to turn down ‘Boogie Nights’ the biggest regret of his career.
Released in 1997, the film tells the story of a high-school dropout who turns into one of the porn industry’s most popular stars under the name Dirk Diggler.
The makers of the film had first asked Leonardo DiCaprio to play the role after watching his performance in 1995’s ‘The Basketball Diaries.’
However, the Hollywood actor turned down the role as he was working on ‘Titanic,’ which proved to be a blockbuster and transformed DiCaprio into a global star.
During a chat with filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson, who directed the 1997 film, the actor admitted that passing the ‘Boogie Nights’ role to Mark Wahlberg was his biggest regret.
“I’ll say it even though you’re here: My biggest regret is not doing ‘Boogie Nights,’. It was a profound movie of my generation. I can’t imagine anyone but Mark [Wahlberg] in it. When I finally got to see that movie, I just thought it was a masterpiece,” he said.
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Leonardo DiCaprio continued, “It’s ironic that you’re the person asking that question [about regrets], but it’s true.”
While he missed out on ‘Boogie Nights,’ DiCaprio and Paul Thomas Anderson got the chance to collaborate on a film after 30 years.
Leonardo DiCaprio is leading Anderson’s ‘One Battle After Another’ as Bob Ferguson, a washed-up revolutionary fighting to save his teenage daughter.
“I’ve been wanting to work with you—Paul—for something like twenty years now, and I loved this idea of the washed-up revolutionary trying to erase his past and disappear and try and live some sort of normal life raising his daughter,” the Hollywood told the filmmaker in their chat.