Actor Leonardo DiCaprio’s latest starring role — the first limited release of the film will air this Christmas to be followed by nationwide releases in January — was a process unlike any the actor had previously experienced, he said.
“It’s all a beautiful blur to me,” DiCaprio commented on the brutal B.C. winter in which the cast rehearsed and prepared elaborately to perform in short windows of time on “The Revenant.”
It was like a performing theater every day, DiCaprio said.
“You have to rehearse meticulously and then it’s a mad, intense scramble to capture this magic light, this precious hour and a half … It became very much like an un-humorous Saturday Night Live situation.”
The actor said that the tense process of getting shots within narrow limits translated into the performances viewers will see on screen.
“This is the most difficult film, I think, that any of us have ever done,” said DiCaprio.
The film is about a team of early 19th century fur trappers who are ambushed by Native Americans while on an expedition, and is directed by Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu, who recently won four Oscars for “Birdman.” Cinematographer Emmanuel Lubeski, who also worked on Birdman, was also part of the “Revenant” team.
By Joseph Reight