DiCaprio regrets passing on Boogie Nights

Leonardo DiCaprio reveals the biggest regret of his career was turning down Boogie Nights to make Titanic.

DiCaprio regrets passing on Boogie Nights

Leonardo DiCaprio recently reflected on a career crossroads from the late 1990s. He was offered the lead role in Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights, a drama about the 1970s porn industry. DiCaprio chose to stay with James Cameron's Titanic, and the Boogie Nights part went to Mark Wahlberg. The film later became a landmark for Anderson and helped establish Wahlberg as a dramatic actor.

Years later, DiCaprio and Anderson are set to work together again on the upcoming thriller One Battle After Another. In a conversation with Anderson for Esquire, DiCaprio says the project underscores a simple truth about careers: the path not taken can steer a life in unexpected directions. He described the idea of a washed up revolutionary trying to erase his past and rebuild his life as a compelling premise that drew him back to collaborate with Anderson.

The near miss shows how one casting decision can redirect a career and shape a film's place in culture. The negotiation between prestige projects and timing matters, and a big franchise can alter the arc of a star’s life.

The upcoming collaboration becomes a case study in how time can refresh and reshape creative energy. It also highlights how industry memory evolves as artists revisit past near misses and rethink their impact in light of new work.

Highlights

The road of a life in cinema is built as much by what queues up next as by what was left behind.