Having read “Killers of the Flower Moon” before filming, Oscar-nominated cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto was quite taken aback to learn that Robert De Niro’s character spanks Leonardo DiCaprio’s character with a huge paddle. There is no mention of anyone being paddled in David Grann’s acclaimed non-fiction book about the Osage Nation murders in the 1920s.
Robert De Niro Slapped Leonardo DiCaprio
Regarding the unexpected scene, Prieto said to Insider, “I don’t think that was in the first script.” “That was something that was added, and it’s shocking in the film.”
About halfway through the movie, the scene takes place. William Hale, Ernest Burkhart’s uncle (De Niro), leads him into a back room. Hale is angry with his nephew because he botched a crucial part of their scheme to kill the affluent Osage family that belongs to Burkhart’s wife, Mollie Kyle (Lily Gladstone).
Hale spanks Ernest with a massive paddle while making him bend over as punishment.
“I do remember doing them quite a few times and thinking, ‘Oh, that must hurt,'” Prieto said of the number of takes it took to complete the spanking scene. “There was some padding on his butt. But you could tell De Niro was really hitting him.”
“Leo is game for so much,” Prieto added. “He’ll do anything.”
Being hit with a paddle is hardly the craziest thing DiCaprio has done for a movie, so Prieto wasn’t joking.
In addition to enduring bitter cold while portraying an 1820s frontiersman and bear-mauling survivor for his Oscar-winning performance in 2015’s “The Revenant,” the actor also consumed raw bison liver on-screen.
According to Clay Landry, who served as the movie’s historical and technical adviser on the wilderness, Leonardo DiCaprio was initially intended to consume a protein bar-based artificial liver.
But things changed a few days before the scene was filmed.
“Leo had talked it over and they were going to use a real liver,” Landry stated.
For that performance, DiCaprio received his first (and, as of yet, only) Oscar. We’ll watch to see if receiving a spanking from De Niro results in him receiving a second.
Related: Scorsese’s KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON’ Opens With $44M Worldwide