It’s rather hard to argue the acting skills on Leonardo DiCaprio. The guy went from GROWING PAINS to INCEPTION.
But who could potentially give him a run for his money? Martin Scorsese seems to think that Rupert Grint could be that guy. Grint is known best for his role as the adorable, awkward ginger Ron Weasley in the HARRY POTTER franchise. The director thinks that if Grint could stray away from sugary sweet roles, then he could be serious leading man material.
DiCaprio could of easily been typecast as the romantic interest, but showed with previous roles in THE BASKETBALL DIARIES and THE QUICK AND THE DEAD that he was capable of more. This is what Scorese said about Grint, “I thought he (Grint) was a great actor in the Harry Potter movies. In a lot of scenes, the boy stole the show. He will always have respect for the movies that gave him such a huge break, but at his age it’s important he doesn’t become typecast. He has to do something really out of his comfort zone in the next few years – play a gangster, play a dirty cop, play a kid with learning difficulties. I would be interested in working with him. I would have no issues in casting him as a gangster, he is a very talented young man.”
Grint has already tried to veer away from his wholesome image by starring in independent films like DRIVING LESSONS and CHERRYBOMB.
Scorsese says that as long as he picks the right projects, Grint could be a force to be reckoned with, “When Leo was in Titanic and Romeo And Juliet, nobody saw him becoming a bad a** in movies like The Departed. But he has become one of the greatest actors of all time. The very same could be true of Rupert.”