Leonardo DiCaprio, who has made a huge name for himself since Titanic, was at one point offered the role of Dick Grayson/Robin in Batman Forever. In an interview with Shortlist, DiCaprio discussed the opportunity he passed on.
As many DC Fan may know the character of Robin in the Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher’s era of the Batman films had gone through a couple of iterations.
In Batman there was a sequence involving a chase between Batman and The Joker that resulted in the death of Dick Grayson’s parents and his vow to get his revenge on The Clown Prince of Crime, this scene can be seen on the Special Edition of the first film.
In Batman Returns, Tim Burton had hired and even paid Marlon Wayans to portray the character, but before filming began he was cut from the film.
By the time Joel Schumacher took over the franchise, it become clear it was time to bring in the Boy Wonder and we would get Chris O’Donnell in the role of Dick Grayson, which despite the films themselves he was not too bad at playing, but he was not the first choice.
Did that include playing Robin in Batman Forever? There’s a rumour you screen-tested for it…
I never screen-tested. I had a meeting with Joel Schumacher. It was just one meeting and, no, I didn’t end up doing it.
Did you actually want the role?
Er, I don’t think I did, no (laughs). As I recall I took the meeting, but didn’t want to play the role. Joel Schumacher is a very talented director but I don’t think I was ready for anything like that.
Do you feel like you dodged a bullet?
(Laughs)
Would you like to play a superhero?
You never know. You never know. They’re getting better and better as far as complex characters in these movies. I haven’t yet. But no, I don’t rule out anything.
Source: Shortlist.com
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