Leonardo DiCaprio didn't actually have to fight a real-life bear for his role in "The Revenant,"
but he still left the shoot a changed man. From physical trials to emotional challenges,
his time filming the epic tale of survival turned out to be quite the ordeal.
Shooting "The Revenant" was a painful experience for everyone involved. The cast was left exposed
to a cold, hostile landscape, and conditions were so unbearable that many of the crew members
couldn't quit fast enough. Leonardo DiCaprio had never experienced anything like it before
as an actor; even spending hours working in giant tanks of water for "Titanic" felt like a breeze
compared to dragging himself through snow in a wet bearskin. When the film was finally released,
the shooting conditions got just as much buzz as the film itself. After all, it was hard to
believe that it was possible for Hollywood actors to work in such a harsh environment.
"I ain't afraid to die anymore. I done it already."
DiCaprio described this particular role as the "epitome" of pain.
Speaking about director Alejandro Iñárritu, he told The Telegraph —
"From the outset, Alejandro had an extraordinary vision:
to create a film the likes of which audiences had never seen before. You
don't get those sort of results without going above and beyond the call of duty."
For DiCaprio, pushing himself so hard for the sake of his craft was certainly a transformative
experience. Daily life in normal civilization must feel a bit too easy and shallow in comparison.
As soon as shooting for "The Revenant" was finally over,
DiCaprio was ready to take some time off for himself. There was no doubt that he wanted to
relax and physically recover, as his body probably needed it. He didn't want to dive
right into whatever his next role would be without taking a sabbatical of sorts.
There was plenty of talk about what his next move would be after winning that well-deserved Oscar,
but DiCaprio was in no rush to get back in front of the camera just yet. In fact,
he wouldn't act again for several years. His next film, "Once Upon a Time... in
Hollywood," wouldn't be released until 2019. Considering DiCaprio's star power,
a couple of years off didn't hurt his career in any way. He could come back whenever he wanted
and still have his pick of amazing offers — and thankfully for audiences, he has.
When Leonardo DiCaprio isn't acting, he's spending plenty of time in the field of
environmental activism. Ever since his early 20s, the actor has been interested in using his
platform to advocate for sustainability and raise public awareness about climate change. In 1998,
he met with former vice president Al Gore to discuss protecting endangered species,
and he began donating millions to the cause.
While filming "The Revenant," the cast and crew was forced to witness the effects of climate
change up close. They had originally planned to shoot in Canada, but they had to switch
to Argentina instead because there simply wasn't enough snow up north. At the time,
2015 was the hottest year in global history. As DiCaprio said to The Telegraph —
"We are actually seeing the tipping point happen right now."
It was one thing to hear about global warming,
but seeing it in person made him want to confront the dire situation head-on.
"It is hard to understand how some still refuse to accept the reality of climate change."
There are two major themes in "The Revenant." The first? Yes, nature is beautiful, but it's brutal,
and we need to respect that it's unforgiving. The second? Human beings have always been brutal
to each other. Stepping into the shoes of Hugh Glass deeply affected DiCaprio,
and made him realize that this aspect of human nature hasn't disappeared in
modern times. We may be more peaceful and tolerant towards each other on average,
but that destructive tendency can still be seen in the way we treat the natural world.
Chopping down forests, burning fossil fuels, polluting the environment,
building over animals' habitats, and ignoring the rising temperatures and sea levels in favor of
endless growth — it's all taking a serious toll. As DiCaprio put it in an interview with Time Out —
"You look back at that time [in 'The Revenant'], and this surge west — extracting resources from
nature, killing off indigenous Native American tribes, cutting down the trees,
and digging for oil, and you think, 'Oh my God, look how brutal we were.' [...] We are
destroying nature and killing species at a rate that is unprecedented."
How would you even come back to the real world after taking part in a film like "The Revenant?"
It might make it more difficult to relate to other people, and it would probably make you
consider your connection to nature and reflect on your place in the universe. It's certainly
not a stretch to say that DiCaprio probably felt like working on this particular film was
a spiritual exercise. Looking back on "The Revenant," DiCaprio said that it felt like a
dream — and he remarked that he essentially remembers it as a "big, beautiful blur."
DiCaprio has also referred to his environmental activism as
"a form of spirituality." He told Time Out —
"I love being immersed in nature, going to places in the world that are pristine
and untouched by man. It’s almost a religious experience when you go to
a place like the Amazon and there’s no civilization for thousands of miles."
Clearly, working on "The Revenant" encouraged DiCaprio to think about
the ways we're all connected to each other and our planet. He may not be a religious person,
but he certainly has a spiritual side now.
What else was Leonardo DiCaprio working on while filming "The Revenant?" To say that
he was stretching himself thin would be an understatement. Around the same time,
he also captured the effects of climate change around the world with his documentary "Before
the Flood." Creating the documentary took three years total, during which DiCaprio spent
time talking with activists, politicians, entrepreneurs, and concerned citizens. He
even included some discussion about the conditions on the set of "The Revenant."
"It's really a conversation about the urgency of taking action on climate change."
"Before the Flood" got great reviews, and many people seemed pleasantly surprised by
the sincerity of DiCaprio's message. DiCaprio wanted to focus on the most vulnerable victims
of climate change, such as the people living in low-lying island nations like Kiribati.
What really makes the documentary stand out are the amazing interviews — only DiCaprio
could get Barack Obama, Elon Musk, and the Pope in the same documentary.
Thanks to his decades as an A-list actor, Leonardo DiCaprio is a multimillionaire. He could easily
retire tomorrow, never work another day in his life, and get by just fine. But for him,
neither acting nor activism are about fame or money. He's not in it for the praise,
the awards, the publicity, or the dollar signs. In fact, the more successful DiCaprio becomes,
the less he cares about being rich or staying in the spotlight. Especially after working on "The
Revenant," the actor knows that all the money in the world won't make you happy. He told Parade —
"The idea of pursuing material objects your whole life is absolutely soulless. Steve Jobs sat on his
deathbed talking about how greed and wealth is the root problem of everything. I believe that too."
After seeing firsthand how our pursuit of material wealth has irreversibly altered our planet, it's
easy to understand why DiCaprio holds this point of view. Doing anything just for the money will
never bring true satisfaction — especially not when the future of our entire planet is in danger.
Yes, acting will probably always be DiCaprio's greatest passion,
but he also has a deep-seated need to give back. He elaborated —
"My career has given me so much from a material standpoint. I feel that I
absolutely need to give back in whatever capacity I can. It's my moral obligation."
DiCaprio does face criticism for his activism. After all, he has the typical trappings of
an ultra-wealthy lifestyle, from a fancy yacht to a private jet. He's been called
a hypocrite plenty of times, and he even addressed it head-on in "Before the Flood."
He acknowledged that he sometimes wonders if he's the best spokesperson for this cause,
as he's well aware that there's some truth to the accusations of hypocrisy. But at the end
of the day, DiCaprio has a huge platform and the ability to make people sit up and
listen. As long as he's a public figure, he's going to use his status for good.
Plenty of people feel upset and depressed when the subject of environmental issues
and climate change comes up. After all, it's easy to feel helpless in the face of a global problem.
But how do activists who are constantly looking at this data feel? Predictably,
pessimism can easily set in. Human beings are innovative and adaptable,
but moving towards a more sustainable society is going to take a huge effort as a species.
DiCaprio doesn't exactly have a rosy outlook himself when it
comes to climate change. He admitted that he felt very pessimistic while
he was filming "Before the Flood" — and this was probably compounded when he saw
the weather conditions in Canada during his time there for "The Revenant." It
seems that DiCaprio's uncertainty about the future has altered his perspective on life.
Leonardo DiCaprio finally returned to the big screen with "Once Upon a Time...
in Hollywood," but his efforts to educate the public about potential climate change
solutions didn't slow him down one bit. In 2019 he was featured in another documentary,
this one titled "Ice on Fire." Here, DiCaprio explores what a "green" future would actually
look like — and instead of giving into despair, he focuses on possible solutions.
It seems that climate change will be just as important to DiCaprio as acting for
the foreseeable future. Just because he's talking about solutions now doesn't mean
his work is over. "The Revenant" was a pivotal moment in DiCaprio's career,
and it caused him to look at the world in a whole new light.