Photo Source: Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Back Stage: What was the process of playing J. Edgar Hoover like?
Leonardo DiCaprio: It was incredibly challenging. I put a lot of research and preparation into it. The way Clint shoots is pretty amazing. It's like a splinter cell unit, this elite squad of people he works with who know his every movement and know exactly the kind of intimacy he wants to create on the set. It's almost like the crew disappears, and it just becomes reality. He likes to keep things spontaneous, with very little rehearsal, to keep you on your toes. You better come prepared if you're an actor, because you're going to go at a very fast pace and do a lot of different sequences in a row. It was a huge adrenaline rush.
Back Stage: Was there anything you were surprised to learn about Hoover?
DiCaprio: I don't know how clear it is in the movie, but he lived with his mother until his 40s. It's pretty astounding that she was that much of a driving force in his political decisions and his life and really was what motivated him careerwise. I think it's portrayed in the movie pretty strongly, but the fact is, the man sacrificed his entire personal life—never was married, never had children, never culminated any type of relationship on a real level. Nor did Helen Gandy or Clyde Tolson, for that matter. They were people of service. It was a different era. They were a reflection of the integrity of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and they lived their life accordingly.
Back Stage: Was this the most difficult role you've had to play?
DiCaprio: I don't want to say this was the hardest role, but I would say pound for pound, for the amount of time we had to shoot this movie and the amount of things that I had to accomplish just on a character level and a personal level of what I wanted to put up on screen, this was the most challenging. Especially towards the end, with the old-age makeup, where I had to sit in the chair for six hours. And having just a couple weeks to do an incredible amount of scenes—it was some of the most challenging work I ever had to do.
