Why Leonardo DiCaprio took ‘extra caution’ against Robert DeNiro

Leonardo DiCaprio had to wear padding to protect himself from Robert DeNiro mercilessly spanking his bottom.

In their upcoming movie, Killers of the Flower Moon, DiCaprio, 48, shares a scene with DeNiro, 80, where the latter spanks him with a paddle as punishment.

Rodrigo Pierto, the cinematographer for the crime-drama film, recently talked to People Magazine about the scene directed by the legendary Martin Scorsese, which came as a surprise to everyone.

“I do remember doing them quite a few times and thinking, ‘Oh, that must hurt,’” the director of photography recalled.

Even though DiCaprio, who plays the lead role of Ernest, was wearing “some padding on his butt,” Pierto was concerned because “you could tell DeNiro was really hitting him.”

Pierto further noted that the impactful scene was not in the original 2017 David Grann book that Scorsese’s movie is based on.

“I don’t think that was in the first script,” Pierto mused. “That was something that was added, and it’s shocking in the film.”

The scene in question involves DeNiro’s character, Hale, reprimanding DiCaprio’s Ernest in a back room for fumbling his murderous plot.

Luckily, Pierto noted that, DiCaprio, with whom he worked on Wolf of Wall Street, is notoriously “game for so much.”