Leonardo DiCaprio Vies for Best Actor with “J. EDGAR”
Press Release:
Coming off Christopher Nolan's explosive blockbuster “Inception,” Leonardo DiCaprio now makes his first-ever Clint Eastwood-directed film with Warner Bros.' controversial drama “J. Edgar.” For his riveting portrayal of J. Edgar Hoover, DiCaprio has been nominated for Best Actor at the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Awards, and a favorite to earn the same honor at the Oscars.
A towering figure in American history, J. Edgar Hoover
devoted himself to public service, essentially putting aside any
personal relationships he might have wanted to have for what he
considered to be the greater good. As one who served to gain authority
as well as the public’s adoration, he saw his opportunity to achieve
both by positioning himself as a supreme crime-fighting figure, a hero
of the populace.
“Hoover was incredibly ambitious
as a young man,” says DiCaprio, who took on the character that would
take him from a man in his twenties to one at 77. “He was highly
motivated to succeed in Washington, primarily due to his mother’s
expectations of him. His father had failed to become a major political
figure, and Annie Hoover wanted her son to carry the family name to
great fame and fortune, with little or no regard for what else Edgar
might have needed for himself. He became this stoic, bulldog enforcer
who had to keep his personal life very personal. He became all about
secrets.”
With so little known about the
man’s inner life, DiCaprio did vast amounts of research in order to
create a fully realized Hoover on screen. “It was a terrific challenge
to breathe life into this person, because he was such a mystery,” he
says. “I did find that he was very manipulative and very charming; he
could charm anyone in the room but at the same time intimidate them. He
liked the spotlight, but he concentrated so much on work that it defined
much of who he was, his morals, the decisions that he made on really
every level. I hesitate to use the word priest because J. Edgar Hoover
was no priest, but he certainly looked at the FBI as his church.”
“Leo is a total professional, he
comes completely prepared,” Eastwood says. “From the start, I could see
he’d done all of his homework, thought a lot about what he had to do,
and was interested in my take on things. I was really impressed by his
focus, and I think it translated into the character.”
The actor was thrilled to be
working with the legendary director. “Clint’s process is impeccable
because he trusts his own instincts, he trusts his gut. There’s a
beautiful simplicity to the way he works; he has one vision, which made
it easier to do my job. He’s really like a corner man. It was like going
into the ring and having your coach there, backing you up. And I think
that confidence and support are evident on the screen.”
DiCaprio concludes, “I think
what allowed me to really get a real sense of Hoover I was portraying
was that, at its heart, ours is a story about the person inside. Lots of
stories have been told about the man, but I feel that his relationships
with [close friend] Clyde Tolson, [secretary] Helen Gandy
and his mother really forged who he was for the entirety of his life
and career. That was what compelled me to go to work every day, and it’s
what I hope will intrigue people as they watch the movie.”
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