DiCaprio Praises Breakout Star Gladstone in Flower Moon Film

In Hollywood's latest buzz, renowned actor Leonardo DiCaprio has expressed high praise for the breakout star of the upcoming film, Killers of the Flower Moon, Lily Gladstone. In an interview with British Vogue, DiCaprio lauded, “Lily is absolutely astonishing in this movie. She carries the entire film and the story.”

The pair play a real-life couple, Ernest and Mollie Burkhart, living on the Osage Reservation in 1920s Oklahoma, a period marked by considerable turmoil. Notably, Gladstone is of Native American descent, having grown up on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation near the Montana-Canada border.

Edward to a selftape audition conducted by Gladstone before the Covid pandemic brought things to a halt, it was revealed that the actress thought she had ruined her chances at the part after a period of silence following her audition. However, she was later requested to have a zoom call with the legendary director Martin Scorsese, resulting in a role offer without even having to read with co-star DiCaprio - a testimony to Scorsese’s conviction in his decision.

DiCaprio, no stranger to working with Scorsese, reminisced their initial introduction to Gladstone. The actor noted Scorsese’s immediate instinct that Gladstone was a perfect fit for the film. “There was a truthfulness in your eyes that he saw even over a computer screen,” DiCaprio shared with Gladstone.

DiCaprio further recalled Scorsese’s magnetic attraction to the newcomer. “I’ve never known [Scorsese] meet somebody and then immediately afterward have this gravitational pull and instinct to say, ‘Let’s not wait another minute,’" he added.

The film, based on David Grann’s 2009 book 'Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI', investigating a series of murders of the Osage people in the early 1920s in Oklahoma, also stars Robert De Niro, Jesse Plemons, Cara Jade Myers, JaNae Collins, Jillian Dion and Tantoo Cardinal. The film scheduled a wide global theatrical release on October 20th, thanks to a collaboration between Apple and Paramount.

Now that the facts are on the table, let's grab a bowl of popcorn and dissect this on a more personal level, Hollywood-Dynamics style.

Well, if DiCaprio endorses someone’s performance - it must be worth noting. His glowing review comes with a weight of credibility given his impressive list of collaborations and an Academy Award sitting on his mantle. And Gladstone? Sounds like a woman who could be on a meteoric rise in Tinseltown.

Scorsese’s immediate 'let's cast her' decision, almost as if under a tsunami wave push of gut instinct, is just the cherry on top of the anecdote. Talk about redefining being "swept off your feet," don't you think? This is Hollywood lore in the making: the coveted Scorsese seal of approval.

It’s also quite fascinating, almost eerily romantic, that a relationship between two actors of a cinematic duo was built purely through a computer screen and unfolded without an initial face-to-face reading. COVID innovation, anyone? Hollywood is indeed adapting.

And DiCaprio: ever the thoughtful storyteller: notes the emotion-provoking scene between Ernest and Mollie sparked a pivot to focus the story more on the Osage narrative. We're getting the front-row ticket to the development process of this project in real-time. It's unscripted, it's organic, and full of what we cinephiles live for: raw, genuine storytelling.

With Apple and Paramount joining forces to throw their weight behind a global theatrical release, it seems like this isn’t a movie we want to miss out on. So mark your calendars folks, this October the Osages, DiCaprio, Scorsese, and the starlet endorsed by them all, are set to hit a theater near you.