EXCLUSIVE: Leonardo DiCaprio Opens Up About his New Movie, Don’t Look Up

Leonardo DiCaprio chatted about his new movie, Don’t Look Up with a variety of press members, including BB, earlier this week. During the chat, DiCaprio talked his director, Adam McKay, wanting to join the movie, and so much more.

On how he hopes the public’s perception of scientists changes with this movie: “Well, obviously that they’re heard. Adam created this film, which was about the climate crisis, but he created a sense of urgency with it by making it about a comet that’s gonna hit Earth within six months’ time and how science has become politicized. I was just thankful to play a character who is solely based on so many of the people that I’ve met from the scientific community, and in particular, climate scientists who’ve been, you know, trying to communicate the urgency of this issue and feeling like they’re, subjected to the-the last page on-on the newspaper.

On Adam McKay’s creation of the characters & film: There’s too many other things that we’re inundated with. And, I love the way he[McKay] portrayed these two different characters. One that is incredibly outspoken, like a Greta Thunberg type of character in Jen’s, and mine that is trying to play within the system. But I also love the way he was just incredibly truthful about how we’re so immensely distracted from the truth nowadays. And then, of course, COVID hit and there was a whole new scientific argument going on there. And it was-it’s just such an important film to be a part of at this particular time.

On wanting to join the film: “I’ve been looking for a movie that was about this subject for decades now. But it’s like I said earlier, this issue where everyone feels ultimately like what kind of difference can we make? What can we contribute to this cause? And Adam really cracked the code with this-with this narrative. I mean, there’s so many comparisons that we can make to the climate crisis with this storyline. And, you know, as a whole, I think it’s probably the most important issue all of us could be talking about on a regular basis. And it takes artists like this to change the narrative, you know? To create conversation and it’s just an honor to be a part of it, really.

Don’t Look Up premieres in theaters on December 10 and on Netflix on December 24.

Photo credit: NIKO TAVERNISE/NETFLIX © 2021

On working with Jonah Hill again: “He is an absolute genius, this young man, this friend of mine. His ability to improvise and take control of a scene and have the narrative be shifted in the most amazing, colorful ways is a sight to witness and something truly remarkable to experience. He’s absolutely a genius. Love to work with him on a hundred more films.

On whether or not his real life environmental activism helped when he performed Dr. Mindy’s speech: “I spoke to you [AMY MAINZER] as if you were a climate scientist through the lens of an astronomer. And you were so incredibly helpful in the convergence of these two worlds, which is what Adam was trying to do, in-in creating this character and this entire movie. We worked on that speech probably 50 times together. And what I really wanted to do was to try to articulate the frustration of the scientific community, how-how one is sitting there on a pulpit speaking the truth. And Adam wrote so brilliantly, you know, all these other noises sort of drowning out the main message. We worked a lot together on, you know, trying to understand the frustration of the scientific community and how one would be in a situation like that of ultimate frustration realizing the world is falling apart. And how do you, you know, take off this sort of professional jacket to cut straight to the chase about the-the truth of this issue.”

*This interview has been edited for length and clarity

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