Across his vast career, Leonardo DiCaprio’s biggest success remains Titanic. He almost starred in another (big) film instead.
The “What If” game is probably cinema lovers’ favorite pastime. It’s always entertaining to wonder what Indiana Jones would have looked like with Tom Selleck’s face, Harry Potter directed by Steven Spielberg, or Alejandro Jodorowsky’s Dune if it had ever seen the light of day. Yet we sometimes forget to note that, in the same vein, certain films might never have existed at all, or not in the form we know them. Fans of the bespectacled wizard might have said goodbye to Daniel Radcliffe’s portrayal if, as the director of E.T. wished, Haley Joel Osment had taken on the role.
Titanic, one of the most famous films in the world, also carries its own share of “What Ifs.” You’ve probably heard that Matthew McConaughey could have played Jack, and how comically he almost missed the boat (the article above). However, another factor could have blocked Leonardo DiCaprio’s participation in James Cameron’s film. And that, again, gives rise to a “What If” that stirs the imagination a little.
THE KING OF ONLY ONE WORLD
Martin Scorsese’s muse could have avoided a death aboard the Titanic, and it would have come down to John C. Reilly, as he recently recounted on the podcast Where Everybody Knows Your Name. The actor from Step Brothers shared another famous “What If” known to cinephiles: Paul Thomas Anderson wanted Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead role of Boogie Nights. Reilly explained that he’d been asked by the director to convince the young star:
« After the first film [Hard Eight, ed.], we became very close friends with Paul Thomas Anderson. And he wanted to make Boogie Nights before he even directed his first film. […] I really wanted to do everything I could for Paul, because I’d seen his talent from the start. The first time I read one of his scripts, I was there: “Oh, shit! When will the world finally discover this guy?” […] And before Mark Wahlberg did the film, Paul wanted Leonardo DiCaprio. And I’d known Leo since he was 17. I’d done Gilbert Grape with him. So I said: “Just trust Paul, and I’ll convince this guy to do the film. I’ve known him since he was a kid.” »
A touching display of loyalty, which nonetheless ran into a schedule already booked by James Cameron’s production:
« But Leo was supposed to star in Titanic. So I sat down with him and said: “Listen, let me tell you something. This movie, Titanic, is about a ship that sinks. Everyone knows the ship sinks. Everyone doesn’t care who’s inside. But this director [Paul Thomas Anderson] is going to become one of the most talented, and you shouldn’t miss that opportunity.” He replied: “Ah, I don’t know, my agents tell me this [Titanic] is going to be a very big film and I should do it.” And I insisted: “I swear to you, man. It’s just a ship that sinks!” The rest is history.»
Indeed, the rest is history. The monstrous success of Titanic, of course, and the fame that erupted for DiCaprio as the world watched. Yet there remained the long-held regret of not having worked with one of the generation’s greatest filmmakers. That missed opportunity was only recently remedied by One Battle After Another and its flood of Oscars in 2025.
Before we see the actor from The Revenant in Martin Scorsese’s What Happens At Night or Michael Mann’s Heat 2, both still without release dates, John C. Reilly will be seen on screen in David Leitch’s How to Rob a Bank, hitting theaters on September 9, 2026.
