Director Baz Luhrmann is as famous for his acclaimed filmography as for his exhausting casting process, which can leave actors devastated after being cut.
On Wednesday, the Moulin Rouge! director revealed the many qualified actors who barely missed the cut for his Oscar-nominated film.
Luhrmann, 63, revealed that Leonardo DiCaprio had auditioned to star alongside Nicole Kidman in his musical romance film.
“Yes, he did,” the director said. “And he sang really well. I mean, I love Leonardo.”
DiCaprio, 51, broke out as a Hollywood heartthrob in Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet, a modern adaptation of Shakespeare’s romance classic. But the young actor was unsure of his singing chops throughout the Moulin Rouge! casting process.
“He always says, ‘Oh, I couldn’t sing.’ And I said, ‘No, you sang really well,’” Luhrmann told Happy Sad Confused podcast host Josh Horowitz.
Though the Titanic actor was heavily considered, he failed to make the final callback, which Luhrmann says included an even tougher cut.
“Heath Ledger was actually really extraordinary, and he and Nicole were extraordinary together,” Luhrmann recalled.
Ledger, who was just 21-years-old at the time, had scarcely five acting credits under his belt when he auditioned. Luhrmann worried that the age gap with Kidman would change the character too greatly.
“He was just a bit young,” Luhrmann said, noting the 12-year age gap between Ledger and Kidman. “He was just—it became another thing, you know."
The Elvis director said that Ledger had great chemistry with Kidman, 58, who would earn an Oscar nomination for her role in the film.
“But the footage of Heath and Nicole is really beautiful, and we often talk about that because of the great sadness of losing him, you know,” Luhrmann concluded.
Both DiCaprio and Ledger would ultimately lose the role to Scottish actor Ewan McGregor, who was fresh off his leading role in the first Star Wars prequel. McGregor, who was 30 at the time of casting, received a Golden Globe nomination for his performance.
Alongside McGregor and Ledger, one more Oscar favorite was in the final round of callbacks.
In a 2018 interview with GQ, Ledger’s Brokeback Mountain co-star, Jake Gyllenhaal, recalled the heartbreaking casting decision.
“We auditioned with many different actresses, it was a long process,” Gyllenhaal said. “But I never met Heath, I only heard about him. We would be shuffled in and out of rooms. They would literally put me in a room and lock the door and Heath would come in and then Heath would be shuffled through the door. I never saw him.”
After the auditions, Ledger called Gyllenhaal to commiserate.
“He said, ‘Baz just offered me his next movie. I just wanted you to know, I f---ing turned it down!’” Gyllenhaal recalled.
Current Oscar contender Kate Hudson also lamented losing the coveted role.
“I really wanted that part,” Hudson told The Hollywood Reporter.
Hudson, who recalled the audition process being “hardcore,” said Kidman scooped the position due to her preexisting friendship with Luhrmann. Like Ledger, Hudson was in her early 20s when she auditioned, which likely contributed to her losing the part.
“Then what happened was I was sort of in the auditioning process and then Nicole had a relationship with Baz and wanted to do it. And so of course, it was like, ‘I guess Nicole Kidman‘s doing it,’” she concluded.
Moulin Rouge! will celebrate its 25th anniversary in June. The film earned eight Academy Award nominations and took home two.
Luhrmann’s new film, EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert, is currently in theters.
