‘Are people still hungry for films?’

It’s a very different world from the one he grew up in, parts of Los Angeles that are fashionable now but were bad before. “Really hardcore place,” he says. His parents – George, a comic book artist, and Irmelin, a legal secretary – were “bohemian in every sense of the word” and divorced when their son was one year old. The family remained close but it was not an easy childhood and when DiCaprio needed an escape he headed to the Vista Theater at the corner of Hollywood and Sunset, a grand 1920s cinema that made him fall in love with movies.

He remembers the place as “like a record store”, full of the magic that inspired him to come to the silver screen: “great modern art”. He began acting in commercials in his teens, then moved into film – at the age of 19 he was nominated for an Oscar. What is eating Gilbert grapes?then came Romeo + JulietThen titanic,

yet now? 51-year-old DiCaprio says that the fascinating world of films is in danger. “It’s changing at lightning speed,” he sighs about the medium that created him. “We’re seeing a big change. First, documentaries disappeared from theaters. Now, dramas only get a limited run time and people wait to watch it on streamers. I don’t know.” He shakes his head, a rare worried break from his Californian cool. “Are people still hungry? Or will theaters become silos – like jazz bars?”.

We’re also joined by Masterpieces director Paul Thomas Anderson there will be Blood, master And the best film of 2025, one fight after anotherA cocktail of epic blockbuster and arthouse film about a washed-up stoner in a dressing gown (Bob, played by DiCaprio) on a mission to save his daughter.

The film is full of twists and turns, flawed characters and thrilling car chases, wit and sadness – just like the signature films of the 1970s. I’m joining them at the awards show – there are eight Golden Globe nominations, and then the Oscars and BAFTAs will come. But with Netflix’s bid to buy Warner Bros. and send its films straight to streaming, both director and star are worried that something this original and well-funded will never be made again.

“It’s a head-to-head battle that poses a greater threat to theaters than TV, VHS or piracy,” Anderson says of Netflix’s Ted Sarandos’ push to drive audiences away from theaters and toward subscriptions.

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one fight after another The film grossed $204.7 million at the global box office, as opposed to the rapid rise of home entertainment fare for the big screen – impressive for a nearly three-hour film, but far short of the estimated $300 million needed to break even. Its estimated budget was up to $175 million.

The film is produced by Warner Bros., so it will be under Sarandos’ control. I read a quote from DiCaprio that Michael Caton-Jones, who directed DiCaprio in his breakthrough role this boy’s lifetold him on the set: “The pain is temporary – the movie is forever.” But is it so? How can a movie stand out on Netflix when it is increasingly taken over algorithmically by reality TV or true crime slop? How can something last forever if no one knows it exists?

“I just hope that enough people, who are real visionaries, will have the opportunity in the future to do unique things that are seen in cinema,” DiCaprio says. “But that remains to be seen.”

The film sees DiCaprio deliver paranoia during a scene through comedy, a manic energy evident in his best work, which has earned him an Oscar and three Golden Globes. But DiCaprio is not one to make small talk. Mentioning anything other than movies can be like talking to a particularly good-looking brick wall. When we met in 2013 I told him that George Clooney had said some rubbish about him and DiCaprio took a long wop before saying: “I don’t talk about people in the press.”

Which is appropriate. But in 1994 DiCaprio said, “I don’t know what people think about me” and I don’t think the public knows him any better now. When I try to ask him something personal about his youth, he simply answers a different question, turning into a monologue about the collaborative approach to filmmaking.

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That’s why he wants his work to become a topic of discussion and he gets involved in the film. DiCaprio and Anderson collaborated almost 30 years ago – the director offered the actor the lead role in the porn epic Boogie NightsWhich ultimately went to Mark Wahlberg. DiCaprio “regrets” turning it down. “I would put on the soundtrack of that movie and drive around Los Angeles, playing the blues about how much I loved that movie.”

But history had other plans – they were already signed up titanicHe has hardly put a step wrong in the last three decades, While his 1990s heartthrob rivals, Clooney, Brad Pitt and Johnny Depp have made dozens of flops, DiCaprio barely has a mark to his name,

DiCaprio protested, saying, “I could argue with that, but I’m not sure he can.” Even his dullest films, the J. Edgar Hoover biopic like 2011’s Workman, j edgarIt has its moments and Anderson agrees – DiCaprio’s CV is ridiculous: he’s the Lionel Messi of acting.

“He has a commitment to not doing any old movie,” Anderson told me. Working with Martin Scorsese, who directed DiCaprio in six films Gangs of New York To The Wolf of Wall StreetBrought a “high level of quality control”. Then there are the non-martyrs like catch Me If You Can, start, Evil spirit And Once Upon a Time… in HollywoodJudi Dench cried when she told me about DiCaprio’s screen skills and how no one could come close to claiming the best American actor of his generation,

“I mean, it’s like explaining to someone why you’ve fallen in love with them,” Anderson says, laughing out loud, when I ask what DiCaprio does differently. “But also, from time to time, I would suffer pangs of jealousy. I would think, ‘Quentin [Tarantino] Have raised hands on him twice. But this idea had to come from me, I had to write something.

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one fight after another is meticulous – a labor of detail and love only possible when a studio takes the gamble. For one scene DiCaprio was in a supermarket filled with real customers. “People were taking selfies – it was controlled chaos,” says DiCaprio. Anderson shrugs. “If a film crew stops at a supermarket for a long time, it doesn’t matter if Leo is there. They’re just, ‘F*** this, I’m here to do my shopping.’ They will soon get bored.”

“But it’s not often you get to be part of a process,” DiCaprio says, “which means not only working with civilians, but, as Anderson does, showing his cast footage of what they’ve shot every day.” “I remember early in my career I’d have VHS tapes in my trailer, but really, it’s something you never get.” He seems very surprised. Maybe he can suggest it for his next film?

“‘You know, Marty, Paul Anderson joked about his process of showing the footage to the actors, saying, “Worked in dailies. Of course DiCaprio’s next film with Scorsese is a ghost story what happens at nightThe shooting of which is starting from this month.

DiCaprio and Anderson discuss a particular scene shot in El Paso, Texas, in which runaway Bob needs the help of a local activist and sensei (Benicio del Toro). The revolution is in the film and, indeed, in the air of El Paso, next door to Mexico. “In our film there are officers like Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE] “I’m coming to pick up my daughter and we’re literally in a border town where all of this is in danger,” DiCaprio says. “We needed extra people to get the crowd going.”viva la revolutionThey all said, ‘Let’s go.’

“The day ICE arrived in LA, we did a test screening,” Anderson says. “It was a weird feeling because you never know – if the world is on fire, will people really want to watch a movie about the world on fire?” But how did they turn something so influential into something that took so many years to write? “Well, people sniping at each other never goes out of style,” he says, shrugging.

It’s a feverish time for Hollywood, as President Trump comes forward to criticize perceived enemies and the network may also face a backlash from the government. Was there any fear in participating in something that offends authoritarianism and denigrates American authority? “It never even crossed my mind that I wouldn’t be a part of the movie because of the political tone,” says DiCaprio. “And I don’t think there’s any specific political agenda or ideology attached to it. We’ve had reactions from both left and right, which says something to me. And anyway, at the end of the movie, Bob is just a father who is there for his daughter.”

Anderson says: “We just want to contribute something optimistic.”

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I wonder if the director has read any of the criticism of his film – for example, complaints about the overtly sexualized portrayal of black women, although the African-American Film Critics Association named one fight after another Second best film of the year. “I just like to hear extremely enthusiastic reviews,” Anderson said. “But if there’s a conversation to be had with someone who has a problem with the movie, I’d love to do that. Let’s go have a cup of coffee. Just don’t yell it at me. Is that fair enough?”

DiCaprio looks toward the middle distance. i mention that titanic Co-star Kate Winslet. “Are you going to ask why those two weren’t at that stupid door?” Anderson says, meaning fleet in titanic Rose survived this, but not Jack. “There was definitely room.”

Actually — but actually I was going to say that Winslet told me she’s “wetted herself” in DiCaprio’s presence and that her biggest secret is that her old friend and co-star is funny. “A secret?” Anderson cackles. “He’s one of the funniest people I know.” DiCaprio smiles. “I’m focusing on the comedic moments in my old age,” he says with a slight smile, before standing up to leave – a man who focuses on movies, the great loves of his life, and what might be next for him.