Highlights
- Leonardo DiCaprio rarely appears on late-night talk shows, possibly due to being introverted or wanting to keep his private life private.
- When DiCaprio does give interviews, he is well-spoken, engaging, and passionate about topics like the environment and film industry.
- In a past interview with David Letterman, the host interrupted DiCaprio frequently and fans were not impressed, leading to DiCaprio never returning to the show.
Leonardo DiCaprio is an incredibly well-spoken man. Part of the reason that he is so articulate is that he is well-researched on the topics of which he speaks. But, because DiCaprio is not a fan of talk shows, he does not appear on them often.
In fact, the last time that DiCaprio appeared on a late-night talk show was when he, Brad Pitt, and Margot Robbie did a short bit where they used Jimmy Kimmel‘s set to cut through to the premiere of Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood, where a fan stole the show. There was no interview and DiCaprio’s entire interaction with Kimmel the audience was a minute, at best.
Many have speculated that DiCaprio does not do late-night talk shows because he is a bit of an introvert and shy. As such, he may be uncomfortable being in front of an audience or with a host he does not know well. Others believe that DiCaprio wants to keep his private life, private and does not want to be badgered about it.
But what is clear is that when DiCaprio chose to do an interview on late-night television years ago with David Letterman, who is known to have feuds with stars, it was uncomfortable.
Leonardo DiCaprio Has Always Interviewed Impeccably
These days, getting DiCaprio to do an interview on camera is incredibly rare. It is also difficult to get DiCaprio to do an interview without his co-stars. But when he does, DiCaprio is always very well-spoken and engaging with those interviewing him.
When DiCaprio was doing press for The Revenant, he was partial to talking about the film because questions about the climate would come up, a subject that DiCaprio is passionate about. As such, he took the questions in stride and gave thorough answers, making him a dream to interview.
“The worldview in ‘The Revenant’ is pretty bleak: people do terrible things to each other and nature is indifferent,” the interviewer stated. “Are you a pessimist?”
“That’s an interesting question for me as an environmentalist,” DiCaprio explained. “You look back at that time [in ‘The Revenant’], and this surge west – extracting resources from nature, killing off indigenous Native American tribes, cutting down the trees and digging for oil. And you think: Oh my God, look how brutal we were. But I wonder how people are going to look back at this time period now.”
The same could be said after DiCaprio won an Oscar for The Revenant, and chose Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood as his next role. Leo’s explanation of why he chose Once Upon a Time… to return to the big screen was flawless.
“Well, first off, I’m a huge fan of films about the industry,” DiCaprio said.
“Something that was so finite and specific could only come from a mind of somebody that acutely is aware of cinematic history, and the cinematic culture in particular in Los Angeles. Who is celebrating a time period that is a transition from the ’60s into the great golden…not golden era, but the era of the director’s medium. I sensed that right off the bat. It was this celebration of what once was, through the perspective of these two guys, which I thought really clicked and really worked.”
When DiCaprio is given the opportunity to speak his mind, he has a lot of interesting and thought-provoking things to say. But not all who interview him give DiCaprio this opportunity to do so.
One of those people was Letterman and this led fans to believe that the late-night host botched his interview with DiCaprio when the actor was starting out in the industry.
Fans Thought David Letterman Botched This Old Leonardo DiCaprio Interview
When DiCaprio was starting off in the industry, he had to get his name out there and do press for his projects. One of the ways this was required of him at the time was to do late-night television.
While some interviews went well, one that did not was when DiCaprio appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman to promote The Basketball Diaries, and fans today were just as put off with how Letterman, who has made hundreds of millions from interviewing celebrities, handled the interview as they were years ago.
“Tell me a little about your name if you don’t mind,” Letterman said. “Leonardo DiCaprio. It is a very rhythmic, very poetic sort of sounding name. It’s very nice. Lovely.”
“Thank you,” DiCaprio said.
Letterman asked, “Is there a story about it? Do your parents have a reason they name you that?”
“Actually, I do have a story about my name,” DiCaprio said.
“Let me hear it,” Letterman said.
“The first time I got an agent they thought my name…” DiCaprio started.
“How old were you?” Letterman asked.
“I was about six years old,” DiCaprio said. “Seven years old.”
“You got an agent at six years old?” Letterman asked.
“I tried to get an agent, but I didn’t succeed because they wanted to change my name to Lenny Williams,” DiCaprio explained.
“They thought my name was a little too ethnic, so they sort of dissected it and said hey, Leonardo, Lenny, my middle name’s Wilhelm, so they changed that to Williams. I didn’t want…”
Letterman interrupted, “Let’s get back to your given name again. Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio.”
“Yeah,” DiCaprio said. “That’s my name.”
Letterman said, “Wow. That’s a good one. That’s great.”
“Thanks,” DiCaprio replied.
“Why is it that your folks selected an Italian-sounding name and then a German-sounding name?” Letterman asked.
“Well, my Mother’s German, and my Dad’s Italian,” DiCaprio said.
“There you go,” Letterman stated. “There’s an answer for every story in this life.”
Fans could not believe how much interrupting Letterman did, with many believing that all Letterman wanted to do was get through the interview as fast as possible and hear his voice in as much of it as he could.
“When the interviewer loves the sound of their own voice,” one YouTube user stated.
Another user paraphrased the interview, saying, “Do you have a story? Let me hear it.”
“Well-“
“How old were you?”
“There’s an answer for every story in this life,” a third YouTube fan said. “Yeah, if you let people answer your questions, there sure are. Fascinating.”
Clearly, fans were not impressed with what Letterman accomplished with this interview. Apparently, DiCaprio was not either, as this was the one and only time he appeared on Letterman’s show, doing very few late-night appearances from this point forward.
Leonardo DiCaprio Never Returned To The Late Show With David Letterman
Over the course of DiCaprio’s career, he did not return to The Late Show with David Letterman. Perhaps this was because of the way he was treated or maybe because the comfort level was not there with Letterman like it was with other talk show hosts.
There were others that DiCaprio did agree to be interviewed by over the years and it was clear who his favorites were then and are now by how many times he appeared on the talk shows.
Over the course of DiCaprio’s career, he has not appeared often on late-night television. But, he did appear on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno three times and Jimmy Kimmel Live! twice.
DiCaprio appears to have a preference for talk shows that are more primetime fare, appearing on The Oprah Winfrey Show three times, Charlie Rose three times, and The Ellen DeGeneres Show three times.
He even agreed to be interviewed by Entertainment Tonight 52 times so far and Hollywood Insider 49 times. As such, it is not outside the realm of possibility for DiCaprio to agree to an interview. It just all depends on who it is and his level of comfort whether an interview can be conducted or not.
Source: NewsFinale
