During the filming of his first scene in Django Unchained , Leonardo DiCaprio had to throw a bunch of “nigger” in the faces of the black actors present.
In France, it is difficult to imagine the power of this word. No one was upset about a white actor using racist slurs in a movie.
But in the USA, as we will have understood, the “n-word” is a bomb in the mouth of a white person.
And this is particularly why Tarantino wanted to see DiCaprio machine-gunning this word.
But the actor had difficulty saying it with conviction. He was clearly uncomfortable.
And the black actors in the cast realized this.
During a break after these first takes, Samuel L. Jackson and Jamie Foxx went to see Leonardo DiCaprio with the intention of putting him at ease.
Samuel L. Jackson told him:
“Hey, motherfucker, you can relax. We’ve seen others. It’s nothing to us.”
And Jamie Foxx adds another layer:
“You have to go all out, not lip service. If you want to be credible, let go. No one will blame you if you go for it, on the contrary, it’s the only way to do it pass the thing.”
After this little update, DiCaprio was released…