Leonardo DiCaprio Says 'Sinatra' Is In Scorsese's Hands, But He's Still Up For The Challenge

 

And Yes, He Does Wear A Dress In 'J. Edgar'

Kevin Scanlon for The New York Times

While Leonardo DiCaprio earns praise for his apparently engaging turn in Clint Eastwood's evidently marginally adequate "J. Edgar" biopic, many of us are wondering what's next for the 36-year-old actor aside from possible Best Actor nominations in the aforementioned film. "The Great Gatsby" is shooting now, Quentin Taratino's "Django Unchained" comes next, but what happens after that?

Will he return for his role as Martin Scorsese's muse in the remake of the excellent 1974 drama, "The Gambler"? Will he be a "Wolf of Wall Street"? Will he help director Todd Field come out of hiding? Or will he simply wait on one of the myriad Appian Way projects his company is developing as potential starring vehicles for the A-lister? Or is Scorsese's intended film about Frank Sinatra still in the cards?

Last we heard, powerhouse producer Scott Rudin ("The Social Network," "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo") came on board in March of this year and Rudin on your side is always a good sign. The film had a script from Phil Alden Robinson (”Field Of Dreams,” “Sneakers”) but in the late winter of this year, the plan was to hunt for a new writer to take a stab at the material.

Whether that's progressed or not is unknown, but in a recent New York Times profile, when asked about the potential Sinatra film DiCaprio suggested it was up to Scorsese and he'd be up for the challenge. “That is in Mr. Scorsese’s hands,” he said. “I’m always incredibly game for anything that he decides to do.”

That doesn't necessarily mean DiCaprio has the part, but clearly this confirms that the director and actor have had some preliminary discussions (names in the very early stages included George Clooney, Johnny Depp and in 2010 Scorsese said, “I'm yet to spot the actor who can bring back Frank Sinatra alive on screen.”) Still. Maybe a hopeful glimmer?

Meanwhile, while "J. Edgar" seems to posit that the infamous FBI director was gay (seemingly in contradiction to comments Eastwood said earlier in the year about the ambiguous sexuality in the film), DiCaprio stops short of telling the press that he definitively thinks Hoover was gay in real life. But he thinks there's lots of evidence to back up that thought. "These two men went on every vacation together," DiCaprio told E! last night about Hoover and Clyde Tolson, the FBI director's longtime right-hand man. "They ate breakfast, lunch and dinner together. They went to work together. They were together for 50 years. They lived together. They were buried together. They never had a family. They never had a girlfriend. You know, put it together in your mind and..."

And in case you were wondering, DiCaprio does a wear a dress in the film.

As for those who thought DiCaprio was wrong for the role all along or at least seemed like a puzzling choice? The actor told the New York Times, that the uncertainty and fear of not identifying with the character instantly is half the appeal. “When I can’t immediately define the character, and there’s an element of mystery to it and still a lot to be explored, that’s when I say yes,” DiCaprio said. “I like those kinds of complicated characters. I just do. The research of these roles is half the fun and half the challenge — maybe more. It’s what makes it exciting to me.”

"J. Edgar" hits theaters next Wednesday, November 9th. "Sinatra" is still a pretty-far off twinkle in Scorsese's eyes.