Leonardo DiCaprio is just not one of those people who want to direct a movie. He has stated it multiple times that he is an actor only, and he likes it that way. A lot of people want to know whether he will one day hold the camera on the other side, but he is always rejecting that proposal. "I would never want to direct," he said once. "I could never do anything like what Martin Scorsese does. Why would I?"
He told Variety in 2016 that he felt "cursed for never being able to work as a director," particularly after he had met the likes of directors Scorsese and Iñárritu several times. He still thinks so after all these years.
DiCaprio and Scorsese were recently at a TIME event together where DiCaprio was awarded 2025 Entertainer of the Year. They were talking mostly about their history which took around 25 minutes. It was only a brief reference of regret on DiCaprio's part that he didn't watch more of the Scorsese directing process. "I was so focused on acting—making choices, digging into these characters, getting lost in their worlds," he said. "I wish I’d been more curious, just to see what you do behind the camera."
These two are now working on another project, which will be their seventh movie, turning the ghost novel "What Happens at Night" into a film for Apple Original Films. With that, Jennifer Lawrence will be co-starring with DiCaprio—the last time they worked together was "Don’t Look Up" for Netflix. Filming will be started in February 2026.
Until then, DiCaprio is going to keep doing the job which he is good at: acting, challenging himself to be more and more his characters, and consulting with Scorsese. "Our process is a lot of back-and-forth—questioning everything, playing devil’s advocate, thinking about all the different ways a scene could go," he said. "We’re doing that now with the new film, and honestly, it’s been one of the most profound learning experiences I’ve ever had."
Source: Variety
