Hocus Pocus Director Recalls Meeting with Leonardo DiCaprio While Casting Halloween Classic

In another world, Leonardo DiCaprio could have met the Sanderson sisters.

Hocus pocus director Kenny Ortega said recently Entertainment Weekly that a young DiCaprio, now 48, read for the role of Max during casting for the 1993 Halloween-themed film. Still, the film’s casting department knew he couldn’t take the part.

“[My casting team] he called me and said, ‘We’re sending someone in, but you can’t have him,'” Ortega, 73, recalled. “They said, ‘We want you to know who he is, we want you to meet him, he agreed to come meet you, but cannot play a role. He is offered a movie with him [Robert] De Niro and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.’ ”

DiCaprio, who was 18 at the time Hocus pocus released, he did not read a single line during the meeting with Ortega, EW reported. While the role eventually went to Omri Katz, that one meeting with DiCaprio revealed Ortega’s acting potential just before he broke out with his Oscar-nominated supporting role as Arnie. What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.

“He came and he was just amazing — so extraordinary and unique — he came and he was stressed,” Ortega told the outlet. “He said, ‘I feel bad being here because I can’t do this, because I’m really focused on these other things,’ and I said, ‘Understandable.’ ”

See the cast of ‘Hocus Pocus’ then and now

L-R: Vinessa Shaw, Thora Birch and Omri Katz in ‘Hocus Pocus’.

Mary Evans/Ronald Grant/Everett

Ortega continued, adding, “We shared a sandwich together. It was super cool. When it came out, I called my casting agents and I was like, ‘You’re killing me, here.’ ”

Despite Ortega’s early admission that DiCaprio is at the beginning of a successful acting career, the director insisted that Katz, 47, is perfect for the lead Hocus pocus with Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and the trio of witches Kathy Najimy.

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“It was so clear to me that [DiCaprio] he was so special, but I have to say, when Omri came in, there was something that was just so perfect and I feel like, to this day, he’s delivered everything I could have hoped for in that role,” Ortega said. EW. – He was wonderful.

Never seen before Titanic Photos from the set show a young Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet

Leonardo DiCaprio. Michael Kovac/Getty

Hocus pocus received a long-awaited sequel directed by Anna Fletcher (Proposal). Katz did not return for the 2022 film, although Middler, 77, Parker, 58, and Najimy, 66, reprise their roles. Disney confirmed back in June that a third film in the film series was in development, although the company did not share any details about the cast.

DiCaprio, meanwhile, has reunited with De Niro, 80, for Martin Scorsese’s new true crime film, Killers of the Flower Moonwhich opens in theaters on Friday, October 20.

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Source: HIS Education