“I entered the dreamscape”: Leonardo DiCaprio’s Method Acting Hit an Extreme Level When His Mind Had a Real-Life Inception Moment While Promoting the Movie

SUMMARY

• Leonardo DiCaprio notably starred in Christopher Nolan's Inception as Dom Cobb.
• The actor revealed he was able to use the rules of Inception in his own dreams.
• Despite his involvement in the crafting of the story, DiCaprio still didn't fully understand the film.

One of the great things about Leonardo DiCaprio—and why filmmakers love working with him so much—is his extreme dedication to his craft. He’s not just an actor who performs for the sake of it, but he immerses himself in the world of his character and tries to dive deep into the mind of who he is portraying.

Leonardo DiCaprio in Inception / Credits: Warner Bros. Pictures

If there’s one movie that continues to puzzle fans through the years, it’s Christopher Nolan’s Inception. Even the actor admitted to not fully comprehending the story and was just mainly focused on his character. Not his fault, though, because the film was designed to play with the mind.

Leonardo DiCaprio took his Inception role inside his dreams

During the rigorous promotion of the film, Leonardo DiCaprio said his preparation for the role of Dom Cobb involved reading a lot of books about the nature and analysis of dreams. Learning all this stuff helped the actor gain understanding, but speaking with Christopher Nolan proved to be more eye-opening.

Inception has its own rules created by the director, and this has surprisingly found its way inside DiCaprio’s subconscious mind. He said that the constant discussion of the movie on tours somehow altered his way of dreaming.

The cast of Inception / Credits: Warner Bros. Pictures

He told NPR that he usually experiences vivid dreams, but they all evaporate as soon as he wakes up. Now, after finishing the project, he sort of managed to control the events in his dreams.

I actually had one recently that was really interesting, and it’s I guess because I’ve been talking about this damn movie so much, but doing all this publicity that I entered the dreamscape and really applied all the rules of ‘Inception’ and all the ideas that Chris has in this movie to my dream.

DiCaprio unintentionally went method acting in his dreams, and while he was in it, he was able to manipulate a horrific nightmare into a good one, all the while remembering the rules in Nolan’s film. Indeed, the level of dedication this actor has for his craft is truly outstanding!

While he isn’t necessarily drawn to movies with themes of madness, the Oscar-winning star said that he likes the idea of a completely unreliable protagonist, such as Cobb in Inception.

Leonardo DiCaprio still has no clue what happened in Inception

Leonardo DiCaprio in Inception / Credits: Warner Bros. Pictures

Even with DiCaprio’s exceptional performance, the actor came clean and revealed that he still didn’t get the story of Inception. While appearing on Marc Maron’s “WTF” podcast, he notably shared, “That’s like ‘Inception’ for me. What happened? I have no idea.”

He was involved in the crafting of the story and the entire film production, but DiCaprio said that when it came to Nolan’s mind and how he designed Inception as a concept, it remained a puzzle to everyone.

Even today, fans are still bothered by many elements in the movie, and Nolan doesn’t want to explain them either.

Inception is currently available to watch on Max.

Written by Ariane Cruz

Articles Published: 2857

Ariane Cruz, Senior Writer. She has been contributing articles for FandomWire since 2021, mostly covering stories about the latest movies and series. With a degree in Communication Arts, she has an in-depth knowledge of print and broadcast journalism. Her other works can also be seen on Screen Rant and CBR.