Leonardo DiCaprio has been one of the most in-demand actors for a while, taking on some of the most coveted and sought-after roles in Hollywood. Even in the ’90s when he was just an up-and-coming actor, DiCaprio was on many director’s watchlists. Apparently, the Oscar winner auditioned for the Disney Halloween classic Hocus Pocus back in the day and was “amazing.” However, there was a disappointing aspect of the whole meeting for the filmmaker behind the beloved film.
The director, Kenny Ortega, recently opened up about taking on Hocus Pocus and what went into casting some of the iconic roles. The film scored, with big names like Sarah Jessica Parker and Bette Midler joining the cast. However, as Ortega also told Entertainment Weekly, Leonardo DiCaprio was the one that got away. He recounted how his encounter with the Titanic icon came to be, saying:
[My casting team] called me up and said, ‘We’re sending someone in, but you can’t have him.’ They said, ‘We want you to know who he is, we want you to meet him, he’s agreed to come in to meet you, but he can’t do the role. He’s being offered a movie with [Robert] De Niro and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.’
So from the jump, the actor was already committed to a number of major projects, so his audition for Hocus Pocus was essentially a formality, it seems. In hindsight, it sounds like Kenny Ortega, who’s also helmed High School Musical and Newsies, was disappointed by that. I can’t even imagine being a filmmaker watching a great actor auditioning while knowing that I wouldn’t even be able to hire them. Still, it sounds like he relishes the fact that he had the chance to see the Romeo + Juliet star’s skills up close:
He came in, and he was just amazing — so extraordinary and unique — he came and he was stressed. He said, ‘I feel bad that I’m here because I can’t do this, because I’m really focused on these other things,’ and I said, ‘Understandably.’ We shared a sandwich together. He was super cool. When he walked out, I called my casting agents and I said, ‘You’re murdering me, here.’
It’s a bit strange that a casting office would send in an actor that couldn’t do the film in the first place. Maybe the casting office was hoping the duo would hit it off, Leonardo DiCaprio would possibly consider doing a different film with the director or the studio in the future. Regardless, it’s sweet to hear that the veteran director still looks back on that moment positively. Even though it didn’t work out, the filmmaker still seems content over having cast Omari Katz as Max Dennison, which was the role the character DiCaprio was being considered for. He explained:
It was so clear to me that this guy was so special, but I have to say, when Omri came in, there was something there that was just so perfect and that I feel, to this day, he delivered all that I could’ve hoped for in that role. He was adorable.
It ultimately seems like it worked out for everyone involved. Omari Katz is wonderful in the spooky classic, and Hocus Pocus lives on as a popular October favorite — and even received a Disney+ sequel film in 2022. Meanwhile, the two movies Leonardo DiCaprio ended up working on were monumental for his career. What’s Eating Gilbert Grape earned him his first Oscar nomination, and This Boy’s Life, the Robert De Niro film Kenny Ortega cited, is a memorable early film for the actor. And years after working with the rising star on that movie, De Niro introduced DiCaprio to Martin Scorsese, and they’ve since forged a creative relationship that’s evolved. To that point, just recently DiCaprio and De Niro worked with Scorsese again on historical drama Killers of the Flower Moon.
If this audition story does anything, it further drives home the point that the now-48-year-old actor has long been highly coveted. Kenny Ortega seemingly wasn’t the only director who wanted the young actor for his movie, and you can’t help but wonder how his career might’ve turned out if he’d made different choices. However, if his audition was truly as strong as the filmmaker remembers, Leonardo DiCaprio was always destined for greatness.
You can check out the 1993 flick Hocus Pocus, which is streaming now for Disney+ subscribers. Fans of the aforementioned leading man can see him in Killers of the Flower Moon, which is in theaters now and will be available to stream with an Apple TV+ subscription in the near future.
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Khushi Patel is a science fiction author who lives in Austin, Texas. She has published three novels, and her work has been praised for its originality and imagination. Khushi is a graduate of Rice University, and she has worked as a software engineer. She is a member of the Science Fiction Writers of America, and her books have been nominated for several awards.
