Leonardo DiCaprio Nearly Did the Movie That Almost Ruined Colin Farrell
Leonardo DiCaprio turned down perhaps almost as many films as he ended up starring in. There was one feature he was seriously mulling over doing that he decided to pass on for another project.
But if DiCaprio signed on, the movie might’ve been different than the disaster that took a toll on Colin Farrell.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese wanted to do a movie on Alexander the Great
DiCaprio confided that he and his frequent cinematic partner Scorsese had very similar minds when it came to filmmaking. So, when the opportunity came to do a project based on Alexander the Great, they were both interested. But the famous conqueror wasn’t the only historical figure DiCaprio and Scorsese had their eyes on. The pair also planned to develop their Aviator movie about Howard Hughes.
“Alexander The Great was also, like I said before, it’s one of those things where Scorsese and I just share the same taste in similar things,” DiCaprio once said according to Black Film. “We were both fascinated with Alexander The Great as well as Howard Hughes. They’re not – completely different time periods and different men, but similar dynamics. Men that keep on reaching for their ultimate goal and stop at nothing until they achieve that.”
DiCaprio would’ve done both features if he could. But the script for The Aviator seemed to make much more progress than what was available for the Alexander biopic.
“It just happened to be that this script and the project was way further advanced in the development stage than the script that landed in our lap from Alexander and we wanted to go forth – we had an intention at one time of doing them both, but you don’t get everything you want all the time,” DiCaprio said.
Colin Farrell ended up starring in the Alexander The Great film that nearly ruined him
It’s unclear how different the Alexander feature would’ve turned out if DiCaprio and Scorsese got their way. Scorsese’s involvement might not have been necessary for DiCaprio to do the feature. The Oscar-winner discussed other directors who might’ve been involved in the project. This included his Romeo + Juliet director Baz Luhrmann.
The project, however, would finally find movement in the hands of director Oliver Stone.
“There was, a lot of people were toying with it, that’s the way it is in the business, that an idea pops up and all of a sudden it’s a piranha feeding frenzy. Oliver got his off before anybody else’s,” DiCaprio said.
Stone would end up casting Farrell in the feature. And in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Farrell asserted that everyone involved in the project had high expectations for the film. So much so that they expected it to win Oscars.
“I’m not even joking,” Farrell said. “We were all like, ‘Right, lads, we’re off to the Oscars. This is a sure thing.’ And then it came out.”
The movie ended up being both a critical and commercial disappointment. And with Farrell being the face of the film, he might’ve gotten the brunt of the backlash.
“And my publicist going, ‘It’s really not good,'” Farrell continued. “I was like, ‘Well, what do you mean not good?’ There wasn’t any Rotten Tomatoes then, so they had all the printed reviews, and one after another was telling me to pack my bags, I’d been found out: ‘Alexander the Dull,’ ‘Alexander the Boring,’ ‘Alexander the Inarticulate,’ ‘Alexander the Weak.'”
After the horrible reviews, and the blow to his pride, Farrell took some time off where he questioned his worth and ability as an actor. It didn’t help that he followed up Alexander with a string of disappointments like Miami Vice and The New World.
Fortunately, Farrell was eventually able to get his career back on track. He was recently nominated for a Best Actor Oscar thanks to his performance in The Banshee of Inisherin.
Most recently, he’s lent his talents to the world of television as well. His Apple TV series Sugar has enjoyed modest to decent reviews. He’s also set to star in the highly anticipated HBO series The Penguin, which is a spin-off of Matt Reeves’ The Batman.
