Hollywood veteran John C. Reilly recently opened up about his attempt to persuade Leonardo DiCaprio to choose Boogie Nights over Titanic. Reilly said he told DiCaprio that he should not miss the opportunity to work with Paul Thomas Anderson. DiCaprio ultimately chose Titanic, which went on to become one of the most celebrated films of his career.
John C. Reilly asked Leonardo DiCaprio to leave Titanic for Boogie Nights
John C. Reilly revealed on a recent episode of the Where Everybody Knows Your Name podcast that he once sat down with Leonardo DiCaprio and tried to convince him to pass on Titanic and work on Boogie Nights instead.
“At the time we were trying to get Boogie Nights put together, being in porn was thought of as taboo. It’s hard to even imagine now, you probably remember,” Reilly recalled. “All these actors and their managers and their agents were like, ‘Porn? Whoa, whoa, man. No. No.’ And there’s a penis in the movie! Everyone, ‘no, no, no, no.'”
The role ultimately went to Mark Wahlberg, but Anderson initially believed DiCaprio would be a good fit for it. “Before Mark was asked to do the movie, Paul really wanted Leo DiCaprio to do it,” Reilly added. “And I had already done What’s Eating Gilbert Grape with Mary [Steenburgen] and Leo, and I knew Leo. I met him when he was 17. And I was like, ‘Give me the assignment, Paul. I’ll get this guy to do your movie. I have known him since he’s a kid.'”
However, by the time they approached DiCaprio, he had already been offered the role of Jack Dawson in Titanic.
“I sat down with him on Hillhurst there in Silver Lake, and I was like, ‘Listen. Leo, let me tell you something. That movie, Titanic, is about a boat that sinks. Everyone knows the boat sinks!” Reilly said. “No one’s gonna give a s*** about who’s on the boat.”
Reilly said he tried to persuade DiCaprio by arguing that Paul Thomas Anderson would become a major filmmaker in the years ahead. “He was like, ‘Well, I don’t know. My agents are all… They’re saying this is gonna be a really big movie and I should do it,'” Reilly recalled of DiCaprio’s reaction. “And I was like, ‘I’m telling you, man. I’m telling you. I wouldn’t give you a bum steer here. It’s about a boat that sinks.'”
However, DiCaprio remained attached to Titanic, and the film went on to become one of the most successful movies of all time. It also received numerous awards and helped establish DiCaprio as a household name. As a result, it remains one of the actor’s most recognized films. Reilly also noted that DiCaprio later said not working with Anderson at that time was one of his rare regrets.
Nevertheless, DiCaprio eventually got the opportunity to work with Paul Thomas Anderson years later. In 2025, he starred in One Battle After Another. The film received significant critical attention and was also a contender during awards season.
Meanwhile, Leonardo DiCaprio remains one of the most recognizable actors in the film industry.
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