Leonardo DiCaprio plays his most 'emotionally challenging' role to date

11 April 2012
The Weekender

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Leonardo DiCaprio said he was faced with his most challenging role yet in the new gothic thriller Shutter Island.

The Martin Scorsese-directed movie sees 35-year-old DiCaprio play Teddy Daniels, a hard-bitten war veteran who arrives at a fortress-like island housing a hospital for the criminally insane.

He is investigating the disappearance of a killer, but during the dark mystery he becomes embroiled in a labyrinth of riddles, fearing he is reaching the limits of his own sanity.

DiCaprio told a press conference in London he needs to "switch off" outside work in order to survive such demanding roles.

He said: "By sheer necessity to survive the film-making process I do switch off when I go home because if I don't, especially in roles as demanding as this... Look, ultimately I'm challenged by these types of characters.

"This is the most challenging one to date for me. Physically yes but emotionally more so."

He described the story, which also stars Sir Ben Kingsley, as "a complex jigsaw puzzle".

"(We) kept pushing Teddy to darker and darker places throughout the course of the film."

DiCaprio described a "sombre mood going home every day".

Challenged: Leonardo DiCaprio

He said: "It is the nature of the character dealing with extreme emotional trauma and it's hard for those types of things not to rub off on you but for the most part I do like to isolate myself away from most people when I'm filming for months at a time and so I wouldn't necessarily get a reaction from anyone else because I was mostly alone."

DiCaprio was Oscar-nominated for his role in another Scorsese movie, The Aviator.

The Hollywood actor seemed unsure about whether he was likely to lighten up in his choice of characters.

He said: "Look, I don't know really. I just respond to what I read and what I've read in these roles are characters that have moved me emotionally in some respect.

"And this goes back to what moved me in cinema at a very early age, these are the types of characters that I felt emotionally connected to and that's sort of inexplicable.

"I'm driven to be able to some day, in my mind, emulate or try to get close to the great massive works of great performers that I've seen in cinema from years past and I don't know whether that thirst will ever be quenched.

"But I would love to do other genres and I look forward to doing them, it just depends on what moves me emotionally ultimately."

The film is released on March 12.

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