Leonardo DiCaprio Praises Brad Pitt's 'Once Upon A Time' Performance

Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt are actors that you refer to as “notoriously press shy.” They aren’t necessarily difficult with the media, but something in their DNA has taught them that less is more if you want to keep that increasingly rare genuine “moviestar” status. That’s one reason why the DGA’s 600 seat theater was at capacity for a film that was released four months ago, Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.”  DiCaprio and Pitt rarely appear on stage to discuss their work, even for their fellow actors. So, when your film has a shot to win the beloved Tarantino his first Best Picture Oscar, perhaps you reconsider.

READ MORE: Quentin Tarantino and Paul Thomas Anderson talk “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood”

On this occasion, the second such of the season for the pair, they were joined by co-stars Julia Butters, Timothy Olyphant, Dakota Fanning, Emile Hirsch, Mike Moh, Margaret Qualley, Bruce Dern as well as Stunt Coordinator Zoe Bell (who has a small speaking part in the film) and Casting Director Victoria Thomas.  This was the actor’s night and a fun conversation insued in front of a crowd featuring 120 SAG Award nominating committee members (a figure noted as “huge” for one of these screenings).

As much as DiCaprio and Pitt praised each other (more on that later) it was their co-stars Dern and Butters who stole the show.  Dern, who has a small role as George Spahn, brought some much needed historical perspective to the evening.

“The thing that was most exciting to me on this movie was when I first came to Hollywood in 1959 we were lucky, my generation. Because we still had a chance to work with the legends,” Dern says. “And I worked on a movie now with the first two real legends in 25 years.. I once said when Prince died we lost our Mozart. But you know who is kind of Moztart? Quentin because he creates operas. He creates situations where you can’t fail if you trust this. And everyone on this stage came up with better stuff than I’d ever seen them do before. That’s the magic of all this for me. He likes the underdog cast. He likes to pick people you don’t expect to see and get them to do things you don’t expect them to do. And get you to go along for a day. I worked a day! An afternoon with him. It was fabulous. It was magical.”

The 10-year-old Butters’ name may not be familiar, but if you’ve seen the picture she’s unforgettable as the young actress that DiCaprio’s character, Rick Dalton, meets while shooting a guest spot on the TV show “Lancer.”  Her character, Trudi Fraser, memorably praises Dalton after he nails a scene he’s had a meltdown in his trailer over beforehand.  It took her four or five auditions to land the role and her bold naivety may have gotten her the gig.

“By the way I had no idea who he was. Quentin Tarantino is not a kids’ director,” Butters says as the crowd erupts in laughter. “I had no idea who this guy was. He might have been one of those directors. [Laughs.] And he said, ‘When I was writing it.’ And of course not knowing who he was I said, ‘Oh, you wrote it? Well done!'”

Pitt adds, “We were doing the read through and we were all saying goodbye to each other and she said, ‘Brad. You did a very good job with the read through.'[Laughs]. And I said, ‘Thank you Julia.'”

As you’d expect from his previous work, DiCaprio put in a lot of work into his portrayal of Dalton.  For instance, the nervous stammering Dalton sometimes drops into was inspired by a friend of DiCaprio’s who “has a nervous energy around what his future may hold.” And, as the film depicts, Dalton is on the verge of becoming a severe alcoholic.

“This whole idea is he is an actor who had his big shot in television and does he have what it takes to make that transition to this era of director-driven films,” DiCaprio explains. “Is he going to transcend his own insecurity and self doubt to make it or will he just be happy to accept the fact he loves being an actor? And that’s what Julie’s character sort of symbolizes. ‘Hey man, you’re working. Life is good.’ He’s so consistent in feeling sorry for himself. All that charater stuff just wove itself into what Rick was with conversations with Quentin.”

Pitt was asked if he’s ever had any buddies who filled a role like his character Cliff Booth, who is Dalton’s driver, stuntman and trusted confidante.  He replies, “Yeah, but they are women. [Laughs]. All of them.”

“There is a lineage with Cliff Booth. I grew up with Clint Eastwood, [Paul] Newman and even Burt Reynolds,” Pitt says. “For me it was a guy who wasn’t at war with anyone or anything. Not at war with himself. And that was really a nice place to hang out.”

And was there anything about Booth that he identified with?

Pitt deadpans, “Not much. [Laughs].”

DiCaprio could not let the night end without singling out his co-star.  Everyone in the room knows Pitt could earn his first acting Academy Award for his performance as Booth.  DiCaprio was going to make sure his fellow actors realized what a remarkable portrayal he brought to the screen.

“Brad and I had some sequences together but seeing this sort of amazing portrayal..what Brad did is really not easy to do,” DiCaprio says. “You have to go back to Alain Delon or Steve McQueen. That kind of subtle power. It was so striking when I first saw it.”

“Once Upon A Time In Hollywood” is now available for digital download and still screens at the New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles.