The Truth About Robert De Niro And Leonardo DiCaprio's Tense Working Relationship

Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro didn't always find collaborating difficult. The pair's paths first crossed around 1993 when a teenage DiCaprio was about to make his big screen debut in the De Niro starring "This Boy's Life." Speaking to People in 2024, the "Raging Bull" star shared that he knew the youngster was tremendously talented early on and tried to turn the tides in DiCaprio's favor. He asserted, "I said to Art Linson, the producer, I said, 'Art, that kid was really, it was interesting.'" De Niro continued, "I didn't push it. I just said, 'That kid had something special,' and then they turned around and wound up using Leo.'" The father of seven continued to go to bat for him too. During a 2023 interview with GQ, iconic director Martin Scorsese shared that his longtime friend and collaborator urged him to cast DiCaprio after witnessing his phenomenal acting skills on set.

The legendary filmmaker pointed out that De Niro rarely recommended actors to him, so Scorsese met with DiCaprio and got him to work on "Gangs of New York" as a result. It's safe to say that the director was floored by DiCaprio because Scorsese subsequently collaborated with him on a handful of other projects too. Then, nearly 30 years after their first film, DiCaprio and De Niro reunited for Scorsese's "Killers of the Flower Moon." However, it wasn't all smooth sailing this time around as the "Titanic" star loved putting his own spin on lines — something his collaborators weren't big fans of, especially De Niro.

In his 2023 Wall Street Journal profile, Martin Scorsese detailed Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro's wildly different perspectives heading into "Killers Of The Flower Moon." The "Taxi Driver" star had a razor-focused vision, while DiCaprio wanted to be more loose and creative. Scorsese had multiple conversations with "The Great Gatsby" star about how he could improvise his scenes with De Niro and things got a little tense as a result. "Bob didn't want to talk," Scorsese admitted. "Every now and then, Bob and I would look at each other and roll our eyes a little bit. And we'd tell [DiCaprio], 'You don't need that dialogue.'" However, his perspective ultimately helped shape the film. As the iconic filmmaker acknowledged to Deadline, he had developed a "shorthand" form of communication with De Niro after decades of working together. But Scorsese had to adopt a more elaborate approach with DiCaprio because he wanted to get into the nitty-gritty of the subject matter. 

The "Before The Flood" narrator insisted on taking on the part of Ernest Burkhart instead of the more fleshed-out role of the detective, Tom White (ultimately played by Jesse Plemons). DiCaprio saw Ernest as a means to bring more dimension to the film, so he worked with the director to develop a better story for him. Furthermore, the actor believed that the original script didn't encapsulate the cultural and political climate at the time, so he suggested a rewrite that also brought additional depth.

During a 2023 appearance on "Good Morning America," Leonardo DiCaprio confessed to initially feeling intimidated about working with Robert De Niro on "Killers Of The Flower Moon" because of his lifelong admiration for the actor. Thankfully, once they began, DiCaprio started seeing similarities between the dynamics of their characters in the movie and the father-son duo they played in "This Boy's Life." This perspective change helped the "Revenant" star to settle into the role, as he joked, "It felt like I was coming home," (via X, formerly known as Twitter). DiCaprio continued, "It felt like an intrinsic part of my childhood and I fit right into those shoes." Interestingly, the "Goodfellas" star positively impacted DiCaprio's life before they even met. When DiCaprio presented De Niro with the SAG Lifetime Achievement Award, he gushed about how the Oscar winner's talents had inspired DiCaprio's own journey in Hollywood.

The "Romeo + Juliet" star recalled watching De Niro in "Midnight Run" with his dad as a 13-year-old, referring to his meaningful words before the film: "'If you really wanna be an actor and get into this profession, if you want to understand what great acting is, you watch that man on screen,'" (via YouTube). Evidently, things haven't changed that much in the intervening years — even if the actor's approaches are starkly different.