Leonardo DiCaprio and Benicio del Toro talk to Melissa Nathoo about what they learnt making One Battle After Another with Paul Thomas Anderson. Report by Nathoom. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
00:10Seeing the two of you together, I was like, I want more of this.
00:14Did Benicio have that same calming effect on you, Leo, as he does on Bob in this film?
00:19Because I very much get that vibe from him.
00:22It was kind of automatic, but that's because, you know, Benicio came with a specificity and character ideas, which day one created that dynamic for the both of us.
00:34I have such respect for him as an actor, and we waited for him to play this role.
00:40We sort of shut down production because we knew Benicio was the only one to play Sensei Carlos.
00:46And I think that dynamic between the two of us wasn't even something that we discussed.
00:50It was just, it happened on day one.
00:53It was like perfect comedy.
00:55Well, Leo, myself, I think that we approach the work very much the same.
01:01And there's mutual respect, mutual trust, and it was just easy.
01:06You two obviously are both so established in your careers, that goes without saying, but it's obviously your first time working with Paul Thomas Anderson.
01:13And I'm curious, at this point in your careers, when you work with someone like him,
01:17do you still feel like you're learning in the filmmaking process and everything as well?
01:21Do you still feel like, oh, I've got something to learn from this?
01:24I think with every experience that I have making movies, I always look to try to understand what, where are the gaps and what I do in the decision making.
01:34And with Paul, you know, it's really, it's a high degree of difficulty to make a memorable film that lives for generations.
01:43And his films I keep thinking about.
01:46There's a mystery, an intrigue to them.
01:48There's something tactile about every movie that he makes, no matter what concept, what period.
01:54And when you come into a situation that has had that much thought put into it and you can immerse yourself in those worlds, I mean, I, you know, the devil's in the details with one little moment in a movie and any film can just take you right out of it.
02:09And it's hard to decipher what those moments are unless you as an audience member are sitting there saying, that's not believable.
02:16So when you have a director that is, put that much thought into all of it, you, you just notice all these details.
02:23You go, wow.
02:24You go on to the next film, you go, well, that's not the same as Paul would do it.
02:27Right.
02:27You know, that, that's different.
02:29So it's just wonderful to what, by example, you know, the amount of work that he puts into what he does.
02:36Was it the same for you, Benicio?
02:37Yes.
02:37Well, every movie is different.
02:39Every director is different.
02:40Every story is different.
02:41Every character is different.
02:42But as you do a character, you learn about your character as you go around, you know, as you go about it.
02:49I just think that, yeah, it's impossible not to learn.
02:52I mean, I think that it's part of being an actor.
02:56You're learning all the time.
02:58But like you say, something can pull you out of a film so quickly.
03:01This one, I was in it.
03:03Like, I felt like I was in it.
03:04And especially, I know you've probably been told a million times, like car scene, like car chase scene, going up and down.
03:09Like, I felt like I was in that.
03:11When you guys saw this, when it was all done, were you like, I can't believe we've made a movie that you feel so immersed in?
03:20I mean, those are some of the things that I always talk about when I'm reading a script is, does it have that tension throughout?
03:27Are you on the edge of your seat?
03:28Are you invested, no matter what the storyline is, are you on the edge of your seat trying to, you know, comprehend what the outcome of these characters would be?
03:37And as soon as we read the script, we're like, wow, he absolutely nailed that.
03:42And he also brings just such humanity to these characters.
03:46They're real human beings that feel like real stakes because he makes these incredibly multilayered, flawed characters, and they just come to life.
03:54So that's part of it, too.
03:57Yeah, and I think also that relationship between Leo and Chase, the father-daughter relationship, is so strong that it keeps us, you know, right on that seat going through that roller coaster
04:12and really rooting for Leo to get together with her and rooting for her to get her away from lockjaw, from Sean Penn's crazy plan.
04:23But I think that that makes the movie, makes you and me get right in that car and enjoy the ride.
04:33Absolutely.
04:34That's it.
04:35It was a great ride.
04:36But also you two on screen together, please give me more of that at some point in the future.
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