Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street is one of the best movies of the last ten years; it’s just so much fun, and a large part of that is down to Leonardo DiCaprio’s performance in the lead role as Jordan Belfort. We all remember the hilarious scenes when DiCaprio is struggling with his drug intake, but here’s how the actor made it all look so convincing.
The Wolf of Wall Street is a movie based on the true story of one of the greatest frauds in the history of Wall Street, Jordan Belfort. The man was as corrupt as they come, and had a penchant for wild parties. The comedy movie depicts this brilliantly, of course, and DiCaprio really does excel in these moments.
The funny thing is, DiCaprio says he’s never touched drugs in his life, but in an interview with CBS, the actor revealed how he pulled off those iconic scenes of madness.
“I think it’s like anything else, you just do your research, you know. Number one, I’d spent many months with Jordan Belfort, and then there was this other video that I watched obsessively called ‘The Drunkest Men in the World’ that was on YouTube, where a guy was trying to get a beer and wouldn’t stop,” DiCaprio explained.
As for his own experiences with drugs, DiCaprio added: “Well, I think there’s always an interest and a desire. But I really grew up around that. I mean, it was on my street corner. Every time I would go to the corner marketplace there were addicts everywhere – in the alleyways, people shooting up, people offering me drugs at four or five years old. I saw it at a very, very early age. And I was just sort of horrified by how it affected people.”
Whatever videos he watched, it certainly did the trick. You can always rely on DiCaprio to pull a brilliant performance out of the bag by any means necessary.
We can’t wait to see DiCaprio and Scorsese combine forces once more for their new movie Killers of the Flower Moon, but until then, why not check out our list of the best thriller movies or dive into our guide to the Cocaine Bear release date for more drug-fuelled antics.