‘The Wolf of Wall Street’: Leonardo DiCaprio Was Shot in the Face With Ham 70 Times to Perfect Hilarious Quaalude Scene
Leonardo DiCaprio typically stars in serious roles in many of his films, so The Wolf of Wall Street was a big shift for him. The 2013 film is one of the most entertaining and disturbing you’ll ever see, and DiCaprio loved every minute of shooting it.
He has dozens of stories about what happened on set, but few compare to his admission that he had ham shot in his face 70 times for one hilarious scene. The scene was so outrageous that DiCaprio couldn’t believe he got paid to do it.
Leonardo DiCaprio had ham shot at his face 70 times for a scene
DiCaprio recalled some hilarious memories from filming The Wolf of Wall Street during a 2014 appearance on The Ellen Show.
Host Ellen DeGeneres complimented DiCaprio’s performance in the film, mentioning how funny his quaalude sequence with co-star Jonah Hill was. DiCaprio responded with some surprising facts about what it took to film the scene.
“It all resulted in this insane sequence at the end where Jonah decides to stuff ham in his mouth as well,” DiCaprio said. “And he crashed into a plate glass table, and we were doing this CPR sequence. And you know, the big challenge that day we had to do 70 takes because they couldn’t get this ham to stick on my face.”
DiCaprio went on to say a crew member had to stand by him, flicking ham from a plastic spoon at his face “all day long.”
“It was one of the most surreal things I’ve ever done in my entire career,” he concluded.
Leonardo DiCaprio still can’t believe he gets paid to act
DiCaprio’s antics in The Wolf of Wall Street were unlike any seen in his previous films. From the nonstop swearing to the habitual drug use and serial infidelity, DiCaprio’s time on screen is both outrageous and entertaining. DiCaprio even remarked that during several moments of filming, he couldn’t believe he was being paid to act so ridiculously.
“Jonah Hill and I looked at each other and said, ‘How are we allowed to do this? How are we allowed to get paid to do this for a living?’ It was just insane,” he said.
‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ story captivated DiCaprio
Although DiCaprio had a starring role in The Wolf of Wall Street, many people don’t know he was also a producer of the film. Jordan Belfort’s book of the same name “fascinated” him so much that he personally worked with Martin Scorsese to ensure that the film got made.
“Jordan Belfort looks at this as a cautionary tale,” DiCaprio said. “He’s sort of reflecting on his wild, debaucherous, hedonistic days on Wall Street, where he was, you know, consumed by greed and excess. But he was so candid and honest about it, and I really wanted to put this up on screen ‘cause in a lot of ways it felt like a reflection of the time that we were living in. I mean really, anything goes in this film.”
The Wolf of Wall Street went on to be a massive critical and commercial success, grossing $392 million at the box office, according to Box Office Mojo.
