One of the reasons that Martin Scorcese is such a legendary director is that he can make the craziest ideas into masterpieces. For example, the book The Wolf of Wall Street was quite a page-turner, but most who read it never imagined it could become a Hollywood blockbuster. Scorsese, though, knew a great story when he was one and beautifully adapted this book into a hit film starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Margot Robbie.
And like all great Scorcese movies, the stories about the making of this film are almost as entertaining as the film itself. Don’t believe us, or maybe you just want some awesome trivia about one of the greatest modern films? Keep reading to discover the craziest details about The Wolf of Wall Street!
The majority of the dialogue was improvised
With respect to Scorces’s excellent direction, the greatest strength of The Wolf of Wall Street is the dialogue. Every onscreen interaction helps flesh out these characters and informs us about more of their “greed is good” world. And when the dialogue is this fresh, you’d be forgiven for concluding that all the credit should go to the tight script.
In reality, the majority of the dialogue in this film is improvised, and even some of the best wordless actions were improvised. This included the scene where Leonardo DiCaprio’s character opened the car door with his foot due to the effect of the Quaaludes he had taken. The scene was great and the actor nailed it in one take, which was convenient…after all, he sprained his foot with his improvisation and it needed time to heal!
Jonah Hill took a major pay cut for a sweet reason
While Jonah Hill is an even bigger Hollywood name now, he was still a very big deal when he appeared in The Wolf of Wall Street. Because of his status as an actor, he could have demanded quite a payday to star in this film. However, it turns out Hill is a huge fan of Scorcese and willingly took a huge pay cut just for the privilege of working with the man.
For this movie, Jonah Hill took home only $60,000, the lowest amount that the Screen Actors Guild was willing to pay. Sure, DiCaprio might have taken home $10 million, but for Jonah Hill, it was impossible to put a price tag on the experience of working with his favorite director.
The movie nearly starred Brad Pitt
It’s pretty much impossible to think about The Wolf of Wall Street without thinking of Leonardo DiCaprio. He perfectly embodied the greedy soul of Jordan Belfort and made the man seem both sympathetic and funny. Even as the character spiraled onscreen, we could see how his native charisma led to others falling in his disastrous wake.
But at one point in time, Brad Pitt was going to star in the Belfort role rather than DiCaprio. That was back when Ridley Scott was planning on directing it. While we’re confident that both Pitt and Scott would have done an excellent job, it’s downright weird to think how their film would have differed from the one we got!
Leonardo DiCaprio was hungry for the lead role
Even though the role of Jordan Belfort almost went to Brad Pitt, it was destined to go to Leonardo DiCaprio. You see, the Titanic actor was hungry to play this role ever since he read The Wolf of Wall Street in 2007. This was right when we were in the midst of a major financial collapse and DiCaprio thought that audiences would appreciate the story of a man both made by and torn apart by the market.
Beyond thinking that the movie would likely be a hit, though, DiCaprio also loved the idea of portraying Jordan Belfort. After reading the man’s book, DiCaprio came to appreciate the unflinching honesty with which he portrayed both his greatest successes and his worst failures. He was an honest icon, the kind that talented actors like DiCaprio always dream of playing.
The nudity was Margot Robbie’s idea
For fans of Margot Robbie, the most shocking (and definitely most exciting) part of The Wolf of Wall Street was her nudity. Of course, not everyone loved it…given that she is a young star in a movie filled with men being directed by a Hollywood legend, some people thought she might have been coerced into getting naked for the movie. In reality, though, the nudity was her idea!
Robbie believed that her character was the kind of woman to use sex as a weapon and that she wouldn’t hesitate to get naked in order to manipulate her husband. Robbie refused Scorcese’s offer of a bathrobe and shot the scene naked (after some liquid courage via three shots of tequila), though she later got nervous and told her family that was her head on a body double. Later, though, she admitted the “naked” truth to them.