‘I could never do what Scorsese does’: Leonardo DiCaprio explains why he won’t direct

Los Angeles: Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio has revealed that he has no plans to transition into directing, citing his admiration for acclaimed filmmaker Martin Scorsese.

Speaking at TIME magazine’s 'A Year in TIME' event in New York City, DiCaprio said he feels he could never live up to Scorsese’s cinematic greatness. “Some people have asked me if I wanted to direct. I'm like, ‘I would never want to direct. I could never do anything close to what Martin Scorsese does. Why would I do that?” he told reporters, according to People.com.

The 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood' star also reflected on his own filmmaking experience, admitting he wishes he had observed the process behind the camera more closely in some of his past films. “You play these characters, you try to get into the depths of their soul as much as you possibly can. And I would've loved to be much more of a voyeur … to watch what you (Scorsese) do behind the camera,” he said.

DiCaprio, who has collaborated with Scorsese on six films, including 'Gangs of New York', 'The Aviator', 'The Departed', and 'Killers of the Flower Moon', described their working process as highly collaborative. “That's been our process a lot, I think, working together … the ability to almost have a debate for months before and lots of questions, and lots of playing devil's advocate about a way to approach things that may not be the most obvious direction,” he explained.

He added that working with Scorsese remains one of the proudest moments of his life. “I grew up watching movies very young — wanting to be an actor," he said. "My father brought me to see Marty's work, along with Mr. (Robert) De Niro's, and said, ‘If there's anyone you want to strive to work with in your career, now that you have the capability of doing movies, it's with this gentleman.’ So I got to see Marty's work very, very early on,” DiCaprio recalled.

The actor and Scorsese are currently collaborating on their seventh film together, 'What Happens at Night', with DiCaprio starring alongside Jennifer Lawrence in an adaptation of Peter Cameron’s novel.

IANS