Where would both River Phoenix and Leonardo DiCaprio be if the former hadn't died?
I was just looking up River Phoenix's biography entry online, and it said that if he hadn't died he would have potentially played Jim Carroll in "The Basketball Diaries", Arthur Rimbaud in "Total Eclipse" and Jack Dawson in "Titanic". All these roles, of course, later went to Leonardo DiCaprio due to Phoenix's death.
If Phoenix hadn't died and had taken these roles, where do you think both he and DiCaprio would be? Would Phoenix be bigger than DiCaprio is now or at the same level? Would DiCaprio be as big as he is now or would he be the Chris O'Donnell to River's Leo? Who would be the more famous of the two - Phoenix or DiCaprio?
If Phoenix hadn't died and had taken these roles, where do you think both he and DiCaprio would be? Would Phoenix be bigger than DiCaprio is now or at the same level? Would DiCaprio be as big as he is now or would he be the Chris O'Donnell to River's Leo? Who would be the more famous of the two - Phoenix or DiCaprio?
0
Comments
What happened to River was utterly tragic. He is imo one of the best actors off all time and had he lived would I have no doubt carried on giving remarkable performances.
But Leo Dicaprio is a good enough actor that even with out those roles you mention he would likely have worked his way upto the level he is today. By the time Titanic had been released most of my school friends were already in love with him thanks to Romeo and Juliet.
There are many actors (Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp to name two) who would have lost roles to River had he lived, not just Leo. He really was the leading light of that generation.
Darwin was right.
It wasn't a stranger, it was a friend. :sleep:
I know River wanted the role in Basketball Diaries... and I too heard about James Cameron thinking of River for Titanic.
River is my favourite actor, but Leo' is outstanding too. You can tell Leo looked upto River. He said he saw him the night he died and wanted to meet him but it never happened. I think they would have been good together in a movie or two. They always seem to be compared to each other, so them playing brothers wouldn't be too far off.
If River lived I do think Leonardo would have had a career still... but if River took Titanic... it would have meant Leonardo would probably need a few more major movie roles to live upto the fame and celebrity him taking Titanic gave him... Titanic pretty much made Leo a household name, so he might not be as popular but I do think he would still be a respected actor, because he has the talent.
River was already a well known actor before he died, Stand By Me is a cult classic and he was nominated for an Oscar for Running on Empty. Leonardo too had some great roles while River was living. This Boy's Life, Gilbert Grape... so it's not fair to say River's death gave Leo a career. Especially since Leo looked upto River.
But really, if River lived, I don't know if he would have taken Titanic... River was into his music, and who knows if he would have continued doing major pictures in the mid 90s. His father wanted him to take a break before he died... and River wanted to get away from Hollywood too, he said to his dad just one more movie for now (Dark Blood) or something like that.
He probably would have taken a break for a couple of years, focused on his music, animal charities, a few independent movies, and then perhaps a major picture in 1996 or something. Also... he was into directing, he was getting into that. ::)