Martin Scorsese loves to discuss everything at great length: Leonardo DiCaprio

Actor Leonardo DiCaprio speaks on his latest film, director  Martin Scorsese and more...

Firstly tell us about your  latest movie and your role?
The movie is a tale of haunting mystery and psychological suspense that unfolds entirely on a fortress-like island housing a hospital for the criminally insane. I play Teddy Daniels, the hard-bitten war veteran and savvy US Marshal who is summoned at the island hospital to investigate the disappearance of a killer, only to slide deeper and deeper into an abyss of dizzying riddles, haunted memories and unrelenting fear. As his investigation runs into one obstacle after another, Teddy has reason to believe he is being manipulated, watched, perhaps drugged, and pushed to the dark, indistinct edges of his own sanity. 

What appealed to you to play Teddy Daniels?
A lot of things about this character appealed to me. Teddy comes to the island devoted to solving a mystery and to uncover what is really going on, but he has his own innermost agenda and secrets. He's in a situation where there's a lot more to his journey than there at first appears to be. One of the great things about the story is that it's constantly jarring you. I fell in love with the complexity of Teddy, with his search for the truth, which triggers something in him, and also triggered something in me. I was profoundly moved at the end.

You again are working with Martin Scorsese, how was it reuniting with him?
It's always pleasure working with Martin. He's a renowned worldwide master filmmaker who's made some of the best movies of all time. He believes in the actors he hires and he depends on them doing their homework before they show up on the set.

Tell us about Martin Scorsese's style of working?
Marty loves to discuss everything at great length. We used to have series of long, explorative talks with him. We would discuss the scenes almost like forensic detectives, going through the details with a fine-tooth comb, and that's one of the most interesting, challenging, scary and fun parts of making his movies. But this helped us become even more specific about who our character is and helped us make it more believable on the screen.

How did you prepare for the movie and what kind of research did you do for the role?
I was very much inspired to undertake my own personal research. I delved into the specialized training of a real 1950s U.S. Marshal, explored the experiences of World War II vets and learned about the psychiatric techniques used in mental institutions during the period. I also read Dennis Lehane's novel which gave a lot of ammunition and reference points to prepare for the role. 

What was the most difficult part of working on the movie?
I think getting drenched every now and then. We got inured to drying off only to get drenched all over again. If there wasn't a crane dropping water on you then it was guys with fire hoses or a giant fan blowing air into your face. But the result was that it ended up feeling very real to us.