Although Leonardo DiCaprio is beloved by many for playing Jack Dawson in 1997’s Titanic, he regrets passing up on the role of Dirk Diggler that year.
The Oscar winner recently admitted to Boogie Nights writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson that his “biggest regret” was not playing the leading character of the teenaged busboy turned adult film icon, who was ultimately portrayed by Mark Wahlberg.
“I’ll say it even though you’re here: My biggest regret is not doing Boogie Nights,” he said in a conversation for Esquire. “It was a profound movie of my generation. I can’t imagine anyone but Mark in it. When I finally got to see that movie, I just thought it was a masterpiece. It’s ironic that you’re the person asking that question, but it’s true.
Despite marking his breakout role, Wahlberg has grown to become less fond of the film now that he’s a father. “I just always hope that God is a movie fan and also forgiving, because I’ve made some poor choices in my past. Boogie Nights is up there at the top of the list,” he said in 2017.
“I don’t want to compromise my artistic integrity or choices based on my faith or my family, but I also have other things to consider, and being a little bit older and a little wiser, the idea of having to explain that movie and the reason behind it to my kids is another issue,” explained Wahlberg.
Jack Wallace, Ricky Jay, Nicole Ari Parker, Burt Reynolds, William H. Macy, Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, John C. Reilly and Philip Seymour Hoffman in ‘Boogie Nights’ (1997)
DiCaprio finally had a chance to work with Anderson on One Battle After Another, premiering Sept. 26 in theaters and Imax. He plays a former member of a revolutionary group who turns to his comrades for help finding his missing daughter.
“I know One Battle After Another has been on your desk for a long time,” he told Anderson for Esquire. “It was a personal story for you in a lot of ways and certainly pertinent to the world that we’re living in right now. But ultimately, wanting to do this movie was pretty simple: I’ve been wanting to work with you—Paul—for something like twenty years now, and I loved this idea of the washed-up revolutionary trying to erase his past and disappear and try and live some sort of normal life raising his daughter.”
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