In a delightful Hollywood anecdote, superstar Leonardo DiCaprio has shared a hilarious moment when his co-star Brad Pitt refused to believe his parents were visiting the set of their 2019 film, mistaking them for background actors due to their unique style.
The Priceless Moment of Disbelief
During a recent interview with TIME magazine, DiCaprio recalled the incident that occurred while filming Quentin Tarantino's period dramedy Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. The film, set in 1969 Los Angeles, featured DiCaprio as a fading actor and Pitt as his stunt double. The funny episode took place outside the historic Musso & Frank Grill on Hollywood Boulevard.
"I remember that moment when we were leaving Musso & Frank's, and I said to Brad Pitt, 'This is my dad, and this is my stepmom.' And he said, 'Yeah, sure.' I said, 'No, it's them.' He said, 'Yeah, sure,'" DiCaprio recounted, laughing about Pitt's persistent skepticism.
Why They Blended In Perfectly
The reason for Pitt's confusion becomes clear when DiCaprio describes his parents' backgrounds and everyday attire. His stepmother is a follower of Sikhism, often wearing traditional clothing. His father, George DiCaprio, emerged from the hippie counterculture of San Francisco and Los Angeles, deeply involved with the underground art movement of the 1970s.
"I thought, 'I know they look like extras in this movie, but it's actually them. This is how they dress every day.' It was an incredible moment. I'll never forget it," DiCaprio added. Given the film's specific late-60s setting, his father's appearance seemed like a perfect fit for the era being portrayed.
DiCaprio's Culturally Rich Upbringing
This amusing story offers a glimpse into DiCaprio's multifaceted childhood. He was born to George DiCaprio, an American underground comix artist of Italian descent, and Irmelin Indenbirken, his German mother. His parents divorced when he was just one year old after his father fell in love with another woman. Remarkably, they continued to live in the same neighbourhood to co-parent him for several years.
In a 2014 interview with The Los Angeles Times, DiCaprio painted a vivid picture of his early environment, comparing it to Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver. He described a challenging neighbourhood with "a major prostitution ring on my street corner, crime and violence everywhere" and "people smoking crack and shooting heroin."
His dislike for public school led him to beg his mother to take him to auditions for child actor roles instead. He later channeled these early experiences of witnessing poverty and aspiration into his Oscar-nominated role as the rags-to-riches stockbroker Jordan Belfort in Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street in 2013.
The film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, released in 2019, also starred Margot Robbie, Margaret Qualley, Austin Butler, Timothy Olyphant, and Dakota Fanning. The story of Pitt's confusion over DiCaprio's parents remains a cherished and humorous behind-the-scenes memory from the making of the acclaimed film.
