Type to search

Entertainment

Leonardo DiCaprio Recounts River Phoenix’s Death

Share
River Phoenix circa 1993.

Leonardo DiCaprio tells Esquire magazine that he was one of the last people in Hollywood to see River Phoenix alive.

“I grew up revering River Phoenix as the great actor of my generation, and all I ever wanted was to have just an opportunity to shake his hand,” DiCaprio told Esquire.

DiCaprio while plugging his new movie with Brad Pitt and Quentin TarantinoOnce Upon a Time… in Hollywood, shared one of the “most ominous and sad” experiences he’s had in the entertainment industry.

Leonardo DiCaprio in 1993.

Esquire reports:

one night, at a party in Silver Lake, I saw him walk up a flight of stairs. It was almost like something you would see in Vertigo, because I saw there was something in his face, and I’d never met him — always wanted to meet him, always wanted to just have an encounter with him — and he was walking toward me and I kind of froze. And then the crowd got in my way, and I looked back and he was gone.”

After Phoenix vanished in the crowd, DiCaprio didn’t give up on trying to meet the beloved actor.

“I walked back up the stairs and back down, and I was like, ‘Where did he go?’ And he was . . . on his way to The Viper Room,” DiCaprio explained. The Stand By Me actor died from a drug overdose at 23 years old in October of 1993 outside of the iconic Los Angeles landmark.

Realizing that he had seen his acting hero so close to his death shook DiCaprio.

“This is the closest thing I’ve done to Pulp Fiction,” Tarantino says of his new film.
On DiCaprio: Suit by Dior Men; polo shirt by Salvatore Ferragamo. On Pitt: Polo shirt by Tom Ford; trousers by Prada; Breitling watch worn throughout, his own. On Tarantino: Jacket, shirt, and trousers by Dolce & Gabbana; vintage scarf, his own.
Alexi Lubomirski
. Via Esquire.

Watch the trailer to Once Upon A Time in Hollywood below.

Tags:

You Might also Like

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *