Robert De Niro Says He Knew Leonardo DiCaprio Had ‘Something Special’ When They Met 30 Years Ago (Exclusive)

Leonardo DiCaprio made quite the impression on Robert De Niro when their paths first crossed more than three decades ago.

De Niro, 80, was already a two-time Oscar winner when he began working on the film in 1993. This boy’s lifea coming-of-age story set in the 1950s based on Tobias Wolff’s 1989 memoir of the same name.

DiCaprio, 49, who was then best known for his role on the ABC sitcom Growing painshe came to read for the part, but not the lead role of Tobias that he ended up getting.

“I told Art Linson, the producer, I said, ‘Art, that kid was really, really interesting.’ I didn’t force him. I just said, ‘That kid had something special,’ and then they turned around and ended up with Leo,” De Niro says in the new issue of PEOPLE.

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Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio in 1993.

Eric Weiss/WWD/Penske Media via Getty

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In the film, DiCaprio plays 15-year-old Tobias, whose single mother Caroline (Ellen Barkin) takes them to Washington state and hooks up with Dwight Hansen (De Niro), a man who offers the family some stability.

After Caroline marries him, his more sinister side comes into focus: he is mean and verbally abusive, and he directs his anger at young Toby, humiliating and belittling him at every turn.

Three years later This boy’s life released, De Niro and DiCaprio appeared in the 1996 drama Marvin’s room with Diane Keaton and Meryl Streep.

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Their third and final film, Killers of the Flower Moon, tells the heartbreaking true story of the Osage Reign of Terror. In 1920s Oklahoma, a seemingly benevolent white man named William Hale (De Niro) orchestrates the murders of many indigenous peoples in order to steal their land, which is rich in oil deposits.

Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio in 2010.

Steve Granitz/WireImage

DiCaprio plays Hale’s simple-minded nephew Ernest, who marries Mollie (Lily Gladstone), an Osage woman. Hale, of course, has Mollie in his sights.

Asked where Hale ranks on the spectrum of all the bad guys he’s played in his career, De Niro says he’s up there.

“He’s pretty bad. But again, that’s what’s called the banality of evil, and the way I interpret it is that… those evil things that he does, he doesn’t think they’re evil. So it’s one of the most insidious, I guess, characters,” he says.

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“[He’s] a pillar of the community and then do these other sneaky things,” he continues. “It’s confusing to me because I don’t understand it.”

Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio in the movie ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’.

Paramount Pictures

Killers of the Flower Moon was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director (for Martin Scorsese), Best Actress (for Gladstone) and Best Supporting Actor (for De Niro).

De Niro’s latest accolade is his eighth acting Oscar nomination (he has another Best Picture producing nomination Irishman), putting him in elite company with only 17 performers in the entire history of Hollywood to have eight or more acting nominations.

Killers of the Flower Moon now streaming on Apple TV+.

Find out more about Robert De Niro in the new issue PEOPLE.

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Source: HIS Education