Leonardo DiCaprio Says This Old-School Habit Is Essential for Scorsese Films- Leonardo DiCaprio has revealed that working with Martin Scorsese still requires at least one decidedly old-school habit — and it has nothing to do with method acting or on-set improvisation.
During a recent appearance on Variety’s Actors on Actors, DiCaprio shared advice he once gave Jennifer Lawrence ahead of her first collaboration with the legendary director: make sure you own a DVD player.
DiCaprio, a longtime Scorsese collaborator, explained that the director is known for sending actors stacks of films to watch as part of the preparation process. These references, often drawn from classic, foreign, or lesser-known cinema, help actors understand the visual language, tone, and rhythms Scorsese is aiming for long before cameras start rolling.
The conversation took place as DiCaprio and Lawrence discussed their latest projects — Lawrence’s Die, My Love and DiCaprio’s One Battle After Another — as well as their upcoming film with Scorsese, an adaptation of Peter Cameron’s 2020 novel What Happens at Night.
The film follows an American couple who travel to a remote Northern European town to adopt a baby, only to find themselves trapped in a hotel where nothing operates as expected. As bureaucratic delays mount and the couple is repeatedly prevented from reaching the local orphanage, the story grows increasingly surreal and unsettling.
For Lawrence, the project marks her first time working with Scorsese. For DiCaprio, it continues a creative partnership that spans more than two decades and includes Gangs of New York, The Aviator, The Departed, The Wolf of Wall Street, and Killers of the Flower Moon.
DiCaprio’s advice may sound quaint in the streaming era, but it underscores Scorsese’s enduring commitment to cinema history — and his belief that understanding the past remains essential to making films in the present.
