“I almost had a physical breakdown.” Leonardo DiCaprio got sick because of the intensity of a scene in Ridley Scott's 2008 thriller
Ridley Scott put Leonardo DiCaprio through a real challenge in Body of Lies. The actor even got sick because of it.
There is one film that posed quite a challenge for Leonardo DiCaprio. Ridley Scott put it in front of the actor, showing him his style of filmmaking, which was very demanding. As the star confessed during an interview with The Guardian, Body of Lies, directed by Ridley Scott, was “a very hard shoot, very rough.”
The filmmaker was able to surprise with new ideas at any time, which required DiCaprio to remain alert at all times. However, it wasn't Scott's unpredictability that posed the biggest challenge for the actor. Acutely, DiCaprio used it to his advantage, claiming that it helped him learn to trust his instincts more and dig into himself more.
The problem, on the other hand, was the “pivotal” torture scene, which had to come off as good as possible. Accordingly, DiCaprio, who was anxious to come off as believable, ed former CIA to give him suggestions on how the character he was playing should behave.
Leonardo DiCaprio, however, was so caught up in the scene he played that he got sick for several days afterwards.
I almost had a physical breakdown at the end of it. So a lot of what you see on the film is my breaking point. I physically collapsed for a few days after that. I got sick because of the intensity of it.
It sounds terrible. DiCaprio gave his all to come off as believable as possible during the pivotal scene from 2008's Body of Lies. And there's no denying that the torture scene was one of his most harrowing performances, which made quite an impression.
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