Did You Know?
....that Darlene Cates (Momma) was discovered on a Sally Jessy Raphael show about overweight hermits and cast for "What's Eating Gilbert Grape"?
....that animal rights activists almost got involved after the "grasshopper decapitation"? Leonardo DiCaprio remarked about the incident, "I didn't know I wasn't supposed to kill him. They said put the head in and slam it. So I killed one and that is the take they used. There was a whole bunch of animal rights people on the set to make sure that the grasshopper didn't get its head chopped off, and I didn't know, and they complained. But it was too late when its head was on the floor. But if you think about it, an animal rights person for a dirty little grasshopper?! I mean, that's a bit ridiculous, don't you think? I think they should be helping some homeless people or something..."
....that Leonardo almost didn't get the role of Arnie because the director Lasse Hallstrom thought his good looks would be distracting?
....that you can spot some of Darlene's family (her daughter, son-in-law, and grandson) during the scene when Momma goes to get Arnie from jail?
....that Leonardo feared that audiences might perceive Arnie as obnoxious and was surprised at how much everyone loved the character?
....that Johnny and Leonardo got along famously with Darlene? Johnny would call her "my prom queen," and Leonardo described their relationship as a "mother-son" one.
....that part of the audition for the role of Arnie involved watching a video of an actual mentally-retarded teen and copying his actions? Of Leonardo's audition, Hallstrom remarked," Leonardo was the only one who had picked up on the essentials, the body mannerisms, and integrated them....In the first audition, I noticed that (Leonardo's) gaze became different when he did the reading and was amazed that he seemed to be able to enter the mind of the mentally challenged kid intuitively. Leonardo himself had gone somewhere else..."
....that the movie is based on a book by Peter Hedges?
....that Leonardo went beyond Arnie's scripted mannerisms and incorporated ones he observed when he visited a school for mentally-retarded kids as well as many of his own making? On playing Arnie, Leonardo said, "I could have made (Arnie) utistic. I could have made him anything. He was officially entitled 'mentally retarded' but I like to call him Arnie."
....that the movie was at first meant to be mainly about Gilbert and Becky's relationship, but the strong performances by Leonardo and Darlene turned it into a story about the whole Grape family?
....that Leonardo spent some of his time on the set jumping on a trampoline? Brady Dial, of the Texas Film Commission, remembers, "On the set (Leonardo) spent most of his time goofing off on a trampoline they put up for him. He was pretty good on that trampoline."
....that Leonardo said that playing Arnie was "the most fun I've ever had"?
....that some people, who hadn't heard of Leonardo before, thought that he was actually mentally-retarded after seeing the movie?
....that Johnny Depp felt bad about having to ridicule Darlene's character "Momma" and would often apologize to her after taping? Johnny once said to Darlene, " Man, I want you to know how much I hated having to say those things about you, or about your character."
....that Leonardo created Arnie's trademark flicking his finger against his nose, describing it as a sort of "brain wipe...like Arnie is massaging the inside of his brain."?
....that when Johnny saw a homeless woman while filming in Austin, Texas, he immediately gave her a ride and all the money he had on him?
....that Darlene disagreed with certain parts in the movie, such as the fact that Momma doesn't bathe and the part where Momma walks out of the bathroom and the floor creaks and almost falls in, because she felt they were too stereotypical?
....that in the book Amy is fat, Becky is 15 years old, and Arnie is missing an eye?
....that Leonardo took his mom to the Golden Globes and Oscars when he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor?
Back To The Picture Index Page
