Leonardo DiCaprio’s Real Film Debut Got Deleted (Photo Credit – YouTube)
Advertisement
Leonardo DiCaprio’s first taste of cinema came wrapped in rubber monsters and bad effects. He was barely a teenager in 1991 when Critters 3 showed up on home video and it was not the kind of debut anyone dreams of.
The movie was a straight-to-video horror sequel that looked cheap and played cheaper and unfortunately, it became his first credited role in a film. However, what made it worse was that it was never supposed to be the first but something else was.
How Critters 3 Set the Stage for Leonardo DiCaprio’s Breakout
According to Far Out Magazine, in less than a year later (11 months to be precise), What’s Eating Gilbert Grape went into production and DiCaprio landed a role that flipped everything. The kid from the forgettable horror flick suddenly became the actor who would get an Oscar nomination before turning twenty. The jump was quick, noticeable and it said more than words ever could. It is because he was not some lucky face who stumbled into fame, but someone who could act and people saw it.
Leonardo DiCaprio Was Supposed to Debut in Poison Ivy but Got Cut
Apparently, the Oscar winner had already been cast in Poison Ivy, an erotic thriller directed by Katt Shea, before he even walked onto the Critters 3 set. The now Hollywood icon did not get a prominent role in the movie and instead he was cast as a supporting character with a solid monologue.
The story followed Drew Barrymore’s Ivy, a manipulative teen who wedges herself between a father and daughter in a twisted love triangle. DiCaprio’s role had him throwing barbs at Sara Gilbert’s character or at least, that was the plan.
But, on the day of the shoot, nerves or age got the better of him due to which he flubbed the lines. The fallout? Well, the director told him to walk in and say just one word, “Problems,” and leave.
“I said, ‘Just problems?’ And I walked in and said, ‘Problems’. That was my line, and then they cut that out of the movie. So, I’m not in the movie at all. My first role, I’m actually not in at all. They completely edited me out,” DiCaprio said.
Critters 3 Was Released Before Poison Ivy, Despite Being Filmed Later
The strange part is that Poison Ivy ended up in theaters while Critters 3 went straight to VHS. However even though Poison Ivy came out a few months later, most people saw DiCaprio first in that sci-fi creature feature. Ironically, his actual film debut ended up nearly invisible and buried in the background of a forgettable thriller.
Now, looking back after all these years, both movies faded into irrelevance, but they helped mark the awkward beginning of a career that would soon explode. DiCaprio may not arrive with a masterpiece but he survived the kind of films many actors hope never get mentioned again.
