In One Battle After Another, Leonardo DiCaprio’s Bob is chasing after Sean Penn’s character, who kidnapped his daughter. He loses sight of them at a crossroad and interacts with two Mexican men. While the whole interaction is amazing, the whistle he does at the end is the moment’s highlight.
It’s such a little thing but him reaching to scratch his neck is such a damn good moment of physicality . https://t.co/JUt3ULhRph
Whistling is a prominent part of Mexican culture; they have a sound for several emotions and phrases, ranging from cuss words to appreciation. In this One Battle After Another moment, it seemed like DiCaprio whistled “thank you” at the men, and it was also immediately followed by “gracias,” which again translates to: thank you.
Leonardo DiCaprio’s Whistle Might Be Inspired By His Past Neighborhood
Many wonder if Leonardo DiCaprio actually practised the whistle, which is quite hard to learn if you didn’t grow up around people who did it regularly. And while his learning it specifically for this scene might be the case, we believe it’s a result of his cultural exposure.
In his early days, DiCaprio moved to Los Feliz (via Leonardo DiCaprio: The Biography by Douglas Wight), a neighborhood in Los Angeles that was predominantly occupied by Spanish settlers. By the time the actor moved in, like most of Los Angeles, it had become a culturally diverse place.
So, it’s possible that he picked up the whistle from Mexican folks around him. Actors do this all the time! They turn real-life observations or experiences and add them to their character as a little quirk.
DiCaprio himself has done it before during a scene in The Wolf of Wall Street, improvising a breakdancing sequence, and he could do it because before becoming an actor, he was a street-performing break dancer (via Interview Magazine), and even earned himself a nickname as “noodle.”
How Leonardo DiCaprio Brought His A Game to One Battle After Another
The Paul Thomas Anderson-directed action drama, One Battle After Another, has several moments that are now viral on the internet. Most notably, Leonardo DiCaprio’s meltdown over forgetting the password, and the phone booth sequence.
His role in The Revenant was physically demanding, but in One Battle After Another, it seems like he mastered the art of conveying things through body language, and it’s the closest he has gotten to physical comedy!
He perfectly follows the film’s beat, not overdoing it at any moment, and you genuinely believe this is a man out of his form, trying to do his best, but failing repeatedly. DiCaprio’s performance is one of the main reasons for One Battle After Another being considered a frontrunner for the Oscars.
But do you think he’ll win a second time?
One Battle After Another is currently playing in theaters (USA).
