Leonardo DiCaprio Admits He Can Not Do Method Acting Under One Particular Scenario

Leonardo DiCaprio may dive into frozen rivers or eat raw bison liver for a role, but when it comes to smoking weed, he won’t go method.

Leonardo DiCaprio won’t smoke weed for his films, no matter what the role may be. He is one of those actors who will do whatever it takes to nail a character, and things aren’t any different in his upcoming film, One Battle After Another – keeping getting high aside.

Talking to Variety’s Marc Malkin (via Instagram) at the premiere of One Battle After Another, he describes his character, Bob Ferguson, as someone who “sits home and smokes pot all the time…it was great to have that ease of incorporating that into the character…“

When the reporter jokingly asked him, “How method did you get with the weed?”

DiCaprio laughed and replied, “No, I don’t get method when it comes to that, no. Can’t do it. Can’t perform.”

As for whether it’s hard acting stoned, he stated that it’s just acting at the end of the day.

There you have it. You can put DiCaprio through one intense experience after another for his films, but when it comes to getting high, that’s where he draws the line.

When Leonardo DiCaprio Went Too Far with His Method Acting

The Revenant (2015) will remain one of Leonardo DiCaprio’s most unforgettable and intense films of all time. It’s also the film that got him his first, and well-deserved, Oscar after five attempts.

Film
Box Office (via The Numbers)
IMDb Rating
Rotten Tomatoes Score

The Revenant (2015)
$532,938,302
8/10
Critics: 78%
Audience: 84%

DiCaprio deserves all the love he received for playing Hugh Glass, especially given the work he put into it. Glass navigates through the wilderness, facing foes along the way. While he pulled off the role, he describes it as “one of the most difficult things” he has had to do.

Talking to Yahoo Movies, DiCaprio said,

I can name 30 or 40 sequences that were some of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to do.

Whether it’s going in and out of frozen rivers, or sleeping in animal carcasses, or what I ate on set.

[I was] enduring freezing cold and possible hypothermia constantly.

Not only would his tears freeze from the extreme cold, but he also had to eat raw bison liver.

Fun fact: DiCaprio’s reaction to the “meal” in the film is about as real as it gets.

Director Alejandro G. Iñárritu kept his reactions in the film.

Leonardo DiCaprio’s Mysterious Trick to Nail Every Character

Leonardo DiCaprio in Total Eclipse (1995) | Credits: Fine Line Features

Years before Titanic, Catch Me If You Can, Shutter Island, and more, Leonardo DiCaprio starred in Agnieszka Holland’s erotic historical drama, Total Eclipse (1995).

Even then, the filmmaker realised that DiCaprio had a lot to give to the art.

Film
Box Office (via The Numbers)
IMDb Rating
Rotten Tomatoes Score

Total Eclipse (1995)
$339,889 (domestic)
6.4/10
Critics: 24%
Audience: 60%

She told BBC News in 2016, “Talking to Leonardo I realised he has an incredibly deep emotional imagination.

In performance, he becomes a kind of medium – the soul of the character he’s playing is entering his body.”

Talking about his method acting techniques, Holland claimed that DiCaprio isn’t your typical method actor.

However, he has a trick that allows him to embody the character and leave the audience in awe.

She further stated,

But he’s doing some trick which is pretty mysterious to everyone watching – frankly even for the director. Look at him on screen and, for the moment of the shot, he really becomes the character.

She knew DiCaprio was a talented young actor when she saw him in films like What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.

Calling him “the most fascinating young actor there was“, Holland admitted that she probably wouldn’t have made Total Eclipse without him.

Whether it’s Total Eclipse, The Revenant, or One Battle After Another, DiCaprio is proving time and time again why he’s the best in the game.

Let us know what you think about his techniques in the comments section below.

Rent/buy The Revenant on Prime Video. One Battle After Another will be released in theaters on September 26, 2025.