Corey Feldman claims Johnny Depp had him 'pushed' from major movie role
Corey Feldman has claimed Johnny Depp had him "pushed out" of playing his younger brother in 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape?' because he thought he was a "junkie".
Corey Feldman has claimed Johnny Depp had him "pushed out" of 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape?' because he thought he was a "junkie".
The 53-year-old actor admitted he is still too "bitter" to watch the 1993 movie after he was initially cast as Arnie, the disabled younger brother of Johnny's titular character, only to be dropped from the project in favour of Leonardo DiCaprio, who went on to be nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his work on the film.
Speaking to Billy Corgan on the rocker's 'Magnificent Others' podcast, Corey said: “I was actually cast to play Leonardo DiCaprio’s role.
“I never saw the film because I’m still bitter. Bitter leaf in that one. But yes, I was originally cast for that role.”
Asked if he was pushed out, he added: “Johnny Depp. He was cast after I was, and apparently whispered into the producers’ ear that he wasn’t fond of me, and thought — he said that I was a junkie and that he didn’t work with junkies.
"And this is the first time I’ve ever [told] this story, so I’m sure I’m gonna get hung by this one.”
Corey insisted he wasn't taking drugs at the time and had "turned [his] life around, so he can't help but think of how his career could have gone if he hadn't lost the role.
He said: “I was sober. I had just gotten sober. I had just gotten out of rehab. I had turned my life around, and, in fact, was trying to help River [Phoenix] at the time, who [Johnny] was running with at the time, as we all know.
“As you can imagine, there was a bit of a thorn in the side on that one. And, had I not been pushed out and done that role, who knows what would have happened from that point forward...
"You don’t hang on those, you get past ‘em."
Two years later, Corey found himself up against Leonardo to play Jack Dawson in 'Titanic' but knew he didn't come as "close" to being cast.
He said: “Ironically, just a couple years later, I also was up for 'Titanic', so there was kind of a double banger with Leo.
"But that was OK, because that one I wasn’t as close. I was up for it, I read for it, I know that I was in the contention somewhere.”
On another occasion, Corey competed with his 'Goonies' co-star Sean Astin to play Samwise Gamgee in the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy and while he "got pretty close", he thinks the 54-year-old star did a great job.
He said: “I was actually up for Sean’s role, and I heard I got pretty close on that as well.
“Although I couldn’t have gained the weight, so I’ll give him that. He did a great job aesthetically being able to add that weight. It’s something I cannot physically do.”
