Filming ‘The Revenant’ A Life Changer For Leonardo DiCaprio [Videos]

Filming The Revenant, the new film starring Leonardo Dicaprio, was agonizing at times, according to an interview the actor gave to Yahoo Movies. The interview also highlights some of the brutal conditions Leonardo worked under and endured while filming. There is no question DiCaprio is an actor who fully commits to every role he’s portrayed, making it nearly shocking that the soon-to-be 41-year-old actor has yet to win an Oscar, after being nominated four times. From the account given of filming The Revenant, DiCaprio’s luck may soon change. The Academy has a history of acknowledging movies that feature grueling roles, often those that demand physical transformation and hardship. The Revenant has both.

The Revenant tells the story of real life frontiersman and fur tapper Hugh Glass, portrayed by DiCaprio. Glass was born in Pennsylvania and was of Irish and Scottish ancestry. He became a legend when in August 1823, he not only survived a gruesome attack by a grizzly bear, but after being abandoned and left for dead, also tended to his own wounds and managed to return to safety after an arduous, six-week journey. It was this journey that Leonardo DiCaprio painstakingly portrayed while filming The Revenant. Three-time Oscar winner Alejandro González Iñárritu directed The Revenant and wrote the screenplay. You may recognize Alejandro González Iñárritu from his previous Oscar-nominated and winning films Birdman and Babel (he won three Oscars for Birdman and was nominated for Babel). The teaming up between Leonardo DiCaprio and Alejandro González Iñárritu is certain to lead for another Oscar nomination for both, and with the grueling process Leonardo DiCaprio endured while filming The Revenant, DiCaprio may realize his first Oscar win.

According to the Yahoo Movies interview, DiCaprio spent nine months filming The Revenant, most of which took place in British Columbia and Alberta, Canada; Montana; and Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. These regions are known for harsh, arduous conditions and there is no doubt that González Iñárritu selected these regions for the film’s realism. As The Revenant is based on a true story, it is presented as close to a realistic documentary as possible. DiCaprio told Yahoo Movies that filming The Revenant was a life-changing experience and he expected moviegoers to have a similarly profound response when the film hits theaters on Christmas day. The Revenant is expected to be as hard-hitting and gritty as the scenes DiCaprio described filming.

“It’s going to be one of the most unique film-going experiences that audiences have seen in modern times,” DiCaprio stated.

Dicaprio also shared some startling stories of events he endured while filming The Revenant.

“I can name 30 or 40 sequences that were some of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to do. Whether it’s going in and out of frozen rivers, or sleeping in animal carcasses, or what I ate on set. [I was] enduring freezing cold and possible hypothermia constantly.”

The film comes out around the same time as the highly anticipated Star Wars: The Force Awakens ensuring there will be plenty of competition for The Revenant. When DiCaprio was asked about the timing of The Revenant’s holiday release he responded that there is room at the top.

“There’s always room at the top. I’m going to be in line for Star Wars as well. What’s great about this time of year is, as you know, they save the best for last in most cases. And hopefully, it just means more people are excited to go to the movies. I think that people know this time of year is where a lot of great pieces of art are going to come out. I would never think that we’d be able to compete with Star Wars — that’s something that’s embedded in our cultural DNA. But I think when people begin to hear about this movie, they’ll want to go see it. And that’s all we can hope for.”

What do you think about Leonardo DiCaprio’s descriptions about filming The Revenant? Are you more or less inclined to see the film knowing that DiCaprio went through an agonizing and at times grueling experience? Are you looking forward to seeing The Revenant in theaters?

Check out these videos and trailers about filming The Revenant below.

The Revenant Trailer One

The Revenant Trailer Two

[Photo courtesy 20th Century Fox]