Why Leonardo DiCaprio went for villainous role in ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’

In Martin Scorsese's latest film, Killers of the Flower Moon, Leonardo DiCaprio takes on a lead role, but he deviates from his usual heroic archetype.

The movie revolves around the story of the Osage Nation murders in 1920s Oklahoma, where the newfound wealth from oil discoveries made the Osage people targets of White settlers.

DiCaprio portrays Ernest Burkhart, who marries an Osage woman Molly Kyle, played by Lily Gladstone. However, the plot takes a dark turn as Ernest becomes entangled in a sinister scheme to not only eliminate Molly's family but also poison her.

Initially, the film closely followed the book's focus on the federal investigation into the murders, but as Scorsese and his team developed the story, the emphasis shifted towards exploring the complex relationship between Ernest and Molly and the profound impact on the Osage community.

Interestingly, it was DiCaprio himself who suggested a change in casting, opting to portray the morally ambiguous Ernest instead of the investigator role originally intended for him, as explained by Scorsese to WSJ Magazine.

As per Scorsese, this change lead to "a story that has real evil in it, evil like I've never covered or ever experienced or researched about before in my life," he told CBS News.

Explaining the theme of the movie, he said, "The heart of the entire situation is, love, the trust that goes with love, and then this extraordinary betrayal, and still [be] loving. Now, how do we do that?"