Leonardo DiCaprio, who leads Don’t Look Up alongside Jennifer Lawrence, came up with the film’s final line in a change from the original script. Don’t Look Up is a Netflix original which was released in late-December 2021. The film quickly became one of the streaming service’s most successful releases, no doubt helped by the draw of its all-star cast, and is currently its second-biggest release of all time behind Red Notice.
Don’t Look Up comes from Hollywood veteran Adam McKay, whose previous works include the Academy Award-nominated Vice and The Big Short. The director specializes in satire and comedy, and Don’t Look Up continues strongly in that vein. The movie follows two low-level astronomers as they discover an impending comet on course to hit Earth. The two astronomers, played by DiCaprio and Lawrence, try to instigate a political response, but come across unanticipated obstacles. While the film uses an impending comet impact as an allegory for climate change and society's lack of urgency in dealing with it, Don’t Look Up also examines humanity’s inability to comprehend existential risk, and how misinformation can support and fuel political tribalism.
Now, in an interview with Insider magazine, McKay shares some behind-the-scenes gems about the film's production. The director makes it clear that the project was a collaborative effort and discusses how even the script was adapted by the actors. DiCaprio, for example, came up with the film's closing line after saying the original line wasn’t powerful enough. Check out McKay’s full comments below:
Believe it or not, that line at the end of the movie where he says, "We really did have [everything, didn't we?]" that wasn't in the script. He came with that the day we were filming... In the edit, it was Leo who pushed us to put the line in. The line was so devastating. We were trying to get the balance of that ending just right. You don't want to traumatize the audience but you want it to hit them. So we didn't have that line in, and this is nearing final cut. We don't have much time left. And Leo was there and said, "Don't you have to try that line? It really felt powerful when we did it." I was afraid to use it and we put it just before a test screening and it just landed. So I thanked Leo for pushing me on that. That's really the line of the movie ... Originally the line was Jen saying "Well, we tried." And it was Leo who was like, "No, it feels like it needs to be something else." So he didn't just come up with it, he came into the edit and told us to try it.
Fans of the film, and of DiCaprio, will be intrigued to hear more about the decision-making process that went on behind the camera. Improvisation is commonplace under some directors, and actors will often make additions or small changes to a script, depending on how they believe their character would behave. However, the fact that DiCaprio was given the freedom to craft the film’s final line should be surprising for many, given the importance of it being memorable. Luckily, the line delivers, and DiCaprio shows off his creative abilities while giving an excellent performance, which has been tipped for a potential Best Actor nomination at the upcoming Academy Awards.
With the success of Don’t Look Up and the awards season accelerating, fans will now turn their attention to whether the film will manage to turn its multiple nominations into wins. At the recent Golden Globes, Don’t Look Up was nominated in several big categories but failed to take home any awards, and the cast is in contention for the top prize at this year's Screen Actors Guild Awards. The film’s ending all but rules out any kind of Don’t Look Up sequel, so fans are likely to be focused on McKay and DiCaprio’s next projects instead.
Source: Insider