John C. Reilly tried to convince Leonardo DiCaprio to reject Titanic

The actor sat down with his 1993 What's Eating Gilbert Grape co-star Leonardo and recommended he turn down the 1997 James Cameron classic for 1997's Boogie Nights because working with the latter's director, Paul Thomas Anderson, was too good an opportunity.

Reilly, 61, recalled on a recent episode of 78-year-old actor Ted Danson's Where Everybody Knows Your Name podcast: "At the time we were trying to get Boogie Nights put together, being in porn was thought of as taboo. It's hard to even imagine now, you probably remember.

"All these actors and their managers and their agents were like, 'Porn? Whoa, whoa, man. No. No.' And there's a penis in the movie! Everyone, 'no, no, no, no.'"

Set in the 1970s, Boogie Nights sees young man Eddie Adams' (Mark Wahlberg's) rise to stardom as porn star Dirk Diggler.

Reilly said Anderson wanted DiCaprio to play the film's lead.

He remembered: "Before Mark was asked to do the movie, Paul really wanted Leo DiCaprio to do it.

"And I had already done What's Eating Gilbert Grape with Mary [Steenburgen] and Leo, and I knew Leo. I met him when he was 17. And I was like, 'Give me the assignment, Paul. I'll get this guy to do your movie. I have known him since he's a kid.'"

However, DiCaprio had just been offered the part of Jack Dawson in Titanic.

Reilly continued: "I sat down with him on Hillhurst there in Silver Lake, and I was like, 'Listen. Leo, let me tell you something. That movie, Titanic, is about a boat that sinks.

Everyone knows the boat sinks! No one's gonna give a s*** about who's on the boat.'"

Despite telling him that Anderson "is gonna be one of the most talented film directors going forward" and that he "should not miss this opportunity", DiCaprio was still not convinced enough to turn down Titanic.

Reilly recalled: "He was like, 'Well, I don't know. My agents are all… They're saying this is gonna be a really big movie and I should do it.'

"And I was like, 'I'm telling you, man. I'm telling you. I wouldn't give you a bum steer here. It's about a boat that sinks.'"

In the end, DiCaprio stayed on Titanic.

Reilly said: "I can't speak for him, but I think that the massive success that came with [Titanic] was both a blessing and a curse. It was just a lot for a young man. And I think he felt like, 'What would my other path have been?'"

In August 2025, DiCaprio, 51, admitted to Esquire that his "biggest regret is not doing Boogie Nights".

But the star got to work with Anderson, 55, on the 2025 action-thriller, One Battle After Another.

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