Posted on 02/21/2005 1:02:06 AM PST by JohnHuang2
A leading expert on Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder who advised actor Leonardo DiCaprio on portraying Howard Hughes in "The Aviator" says the actor himself developed a serious case of the condition.
"There were moments when I was very concerned for Leo," UCLA psychiatry professor Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz told Scotland on Sunday.
Leonardo DiCaprio portrays Howard Hughes in "The Aviator" (Miramax)
Schwartz, who was called in by director Martin Scorsese to help replicate the characteristics of OCD from which Hughes suffered, says DiCaprio's brain started to malfunction, as he reawakened his own OCD he suffered as a child.
"He let his own mild OCD get worse to play the part," Schwartz told the paper. "There were times when it was getting not so easy for him to control it. By playing Hughes and giving into his own compulsions, Leo induced a more severe form of OCD in himself. There is strong experimental evidence this kind of switch can happen to actors who concentrate so hard on playing OCD sufferers."
"The Aviator" recounts the story of Hughes, one of America's first billionaires, who became a Hollywood movie mogul before plunging into a reclusive lifestyle prompted by obsessional fears of germs and contamination.
"By replicating the compulsions that Hughes suffered from, [DiCaprio] had given in to his own and caused it to get worse," Schwartz said. "If we had taken a scan of Leo's brain we would probably have found he had increased the activity in this part of his brain to the point where it was what we would find in severe OCD."
While poorly understood, OCD is regarded by the medical establishment as a brain disorder that manifests itself in numerous ways, including obsessions involving contamination and symmetry. Those who suffer from it are often found to hoard items or carry out mental routines such as counting.
DiCaprio himself admits his portrayal of Hughes had an impact on his behavior, both during production of the film and afterward.
"I remember my makeup artist and assistant walking me to the set and going, 'Oh God, we're going to need ten minutes to get him there because he has to walk back and step on that thing, touch the door and walk in and out again,'" the actor told the Daily Mirror.
"I let myself do it because I wanted that to come out. I was trying to be that character but it became really bothersome – and it continued way after the filming. I can talk myself through it, whereas Howard Hughes couldn't do that and people with hardcore OCD can't."
"The Aviator" has been nominated for 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor for DiCaprio.
I can't believe Scorsese cast DiCaprio as Hughes. I have seen newsreel footage of Hughes, and not only does DiCaprio not resemble Hughes, he sounds nothing like him. The real Hughes didn't sound like he had reached puberty in recent days. DiCaprio does.
I'm not buying.
It's called lobbying for the Oscars.
Doesn't sound like he was acting and so he must not deserve the Oscar.
The real question here is-who cares?
So another Hollywood fruitcake discovers a new fad of the week-in another month every freak in Hollywood will emulate him and it will be fashionable to mince around Hollywood with scraggly hair, long toenails, bad breath murmuring obscenities to themselves -half of them already do that anyway.
I thought Nicolas Cage did a wonderful job of displaying OCD in "Matchstick Men". Maybe they should have used him. Is Mr. DiCrapio on medication now for his psychosis?
What's even worse is DiCaprio's attempt at a Texas accent. Being a native Texan, it's extremely annoying to me to hear a bad actor like DiCaprio doing this caricature which sounds like some kind of generic all-purpose Southern drawl. What a hack.
See What's Eating Gilbert Grape before you pass final judgment on his acting abilities.
I think DiCaprio owned the rights to the story, so if anyone wanted to make it, he came with the deal, unfortunately, and there was nothing they could do about it. I too was quite stunned when I heard the girlish-looking (even his girlfriend looks more masculine than he does for goodness sakes!), dainty-featured, boyish Leo was gonna play the man Hughes.
The other one that irked me was the sexlessly beautiful, unexotic Kate Beckinsale as the very exotic, smoldering Ava Gardner--wasn't Catherine Zeta-Jones or Monica Bellucci available?
I can't believe it either. In the vernacular of the street, "He's a little punk B!t@h." They'd have his a$$ in prison.
Given the faults of his drive and compulsions, HH was a real man; Leo only played one.
Who would you have seen as Hughes?
I was exasperated by the movie. The emphasis on OCB at the expense of telling the story turned me off. HH had OCB. Fine, show a scene that establishes this, then move on to the things he did that made him famous ... building and designing airplanes, making movies and operating airlines. But noooooo! We see endless scenes of Dicaprio washing his hands in the men's room and waiting for others to open the door so he can exit germ-free.
To me, this was similar to "Alexander". People went to see a movie about Alexander, the Great. Was he called Great because he was a Great Fag? No. But that's all that was shown. These directors think we'll be impressed if we see endless repetions of human imperfection in famous people. I don't get it.
Bingo. That's the correct answer, IMO.
Gaffer, you did a nice job there summing it all up!
You are correct. He was brillant in "Grape" and deserved the Oscar then, IMHO. I thought he did a great job as Hughes.
Could Di Crapio be a covert child of billy blythe klintoon? The do favor each other in apperance and warped mental logic. NSNR
"I can't believe Scorsese cast DiCaprio as Hughes."
Agree. I don't find DiCaprio believable in any film I've seen with him in it. I think the ony thing he's appeared that had any merit what so ever was Gilbert Grape.
Hughes was definetly not a girlie man! DeCaprio looks like a girl in drag.
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