John C. Reilly Tried to Convince Leonardo DiCaprio to Turn Down “Titanic”: ‘It’s About a Boat That Sinks’

Victoria EdelWed, June 3, 2026 at 8:40 PM UTC

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John C. Reilly (left); Leonardo DiCaprio (right)Credit: Jon Kopaloff/Getty; Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic -

John C. Reilly remembered trying to get Leonardo DiCaprio to turn down Titanic

Reilly's friend Paul Thomas Anderson was making Boogie Nights, and he wanted the actor to pick that movie instead.

Mark Wahlberg was cast in the role instead

John C. Reilly tried to convince Leonardo DiCaprio to back out of Titanic.

Reilly, 61, appeared on the June 3 episode of the Where Everybody Knows Your Name podcast with Ted Danson. The actor, who's starred in movies like Chicago, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story and Step Brothers, opened up about when he was cast in Boogie Nights, the 1997 movie from writer and director Paul Thomas Anderson.

The movie, set in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley, follows a nightclub dishwasher who becomes a porn star in the 1970s, before crashing out in the '80s. Mark Wahlberg ultimately played the lead role as Dirk Diggler, while Reilly played his friend Reed Rothchild.

Anderson and Reilly were already friends; Reilly had appeared in Anderson's directorial debut Hard Eight in 1996. "We were thick as thieves," Reilly said of Anderson, 55, and he did "everything" he could to help him make Boogie Nights.

Kate Winslet (left) and Leonardo DiCaprio in 'Titanic'Credit: CBS via Getty

But at the time, "being in porn was thought of as taboo," he said. The actors, managers and agents they spoke to about the movie were very opposed to signing on. Even Wahlberg's manager, Reilly, remembered telling him, "Don't do it."

Before they went after Wahlberg, though, Anderson "really wanted Leo DiCaprio to do it." Reilly had appeared in 1993's What's Eating Gilbert Grape with DiCaprio. "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've known him since he's a kid.' "

Reilly met with DiCaprio, 51, but he had already been offered Titanic. "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 going to give a s--- about who's on the boat,' " he remembered saying.

"And I was like, 'This guy, this director, is going to be one of the most talented film directors going forward, and you should not miss this opportunity.' "

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DiCaprio was torn, since his agents were advising him that Titanic was going to be "a really big movie."

"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,' " Reilly remembered. DiCaprio chose Titanic, which became the highest-grossing film worldwide in 1998 and made the actor a superstar.

John C. Reilly (left) and Mark Wahlberg in 'Boogie Nights'Credit: New Line/Kobal/Shutterstock

Reilly said that while he can't speak for DiCaprio, he thinks Titanic was both "a blessing and a curse," and that his new fame was "a lot for a young man."

"And I think he thought like, 'What would my other path have been?' " he said.

In 2025, DiCaprio finally worked with Anderson on One Battle After Another, playing Pat Calhoun, a washed-up former member of a revolutionary group. Chase Infiniti played his daughter.

Seeing DiCaprio in that movie was "very satisfying" for Reilly. "It felt like, 'Finally, he took my advice. It took 25 years or something,' " he joked.

Back in 2025, DiCaprio told Anderson in an interview for Esquire, "My biggest regret is not doing Boogie Nights. It was a profound movie of my generation. I can't imagine anyone but Mark in it. When I finally got to see that movie, I just thought it was a masterpiece." He said that he had been hoping to work with Anderson for "something like 20 years."

This fall, Reilly will star in How to Rob a Bank. The movie's cast includes Nicholas Hoult, Anna Sawai, Pete Davidson, Zoë Kravitz and Christian Slater.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”