Leonardo DiCaprio attends a BAFTA screening of 'The Revenant'
He also talked Titanic and the 2016 election
In a new interview with WIRED,actor Leonardo DiCaprio discusses the challenges of shooting Birdmandirector Alejandro González Iñárritu’s latest film The Revenant,which is based on the real story of a frontiersman who was left for dead in the American wilderness after a bear attack. DiCaprio also talked about his own survival stories — such as near-death experiences in the great outdoors — and about why he’s so passionate about making sure the planet can survive the devastating effects of global warming. Here are seven highlights:
• The movie was a pain to make at times, between the cameras malfunctioning in the snow and the snow melting when there was supposed to be snow in the scenes: “We had to shut down production multiple times.”
• The hardest parts for him to shoot were the ones in which he had to get into frozen rivers wearing elk skin and a bear fur “that weighed about 100 pounds when it got wet.”
• In terms of outdoorsy activities, he “loves” scuba diving. But once, during a diving trip in South Africa, he was almost attacked by a snapping shark when half a tuna fish got wedged in the cage: “The guys there said that has never happened in the 30 years they’d been doing it.”
• He also said he almost died during a skydiving trip when the first parachute malfunctioned, forcing the crew to activate a backup chute.
• And he was on the 2010 Moscow-bound Delta plane that blew an engine during takeoff at JFK airport: “…the entire wing exploded in a fireball. I was the only one looking out at the moment this giant turbine exploded like a comet.”
• After filming the 1997 movieTitanic, he says he became interested in climate change and environmental issues: “I got exposed to the wonders of nature through film—Imax documentaries and such.” He visited Al Gore at the White House to learn how he could get involved in the cause .
• In terms of favorites among the 2016 presidential candidates, he likes Senator Bernie Sanders the most because of the way he talks about environmental issues during the debates.