How a Friendship Film Turned Into Leonardo DiCaprio’s Hidden Scandal
Leonardo DiCaprio’s early indie project Don’s Plum, meant as a tribute to friends, spiraled into controversy and was mostly buried after disputes over its release and content.
Few actors have managed to carve out a legacy as enduring as Leonardo DiCaprio’s. From his breakout roles as a young actor to his string of iconic performances in films like Titanic, The Departed, The Wolf of Wall Street, Catch Me If You Can, The Revenant, and Django Unchained, DiCaprio has built a career that stands shoulder to shoulder with legends like Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, and Marlon Brando. His careful approach to picking roles, often working with acclaimed directors and steering clear of overexposure, has helped him avoid the pitfalls that have tripped up many of his peers.
But even the most celebrated stars have chapters they’d rather keep out of the spotlight. Early in his career, after the lukewarm reception of The Beach, DiCaprio teamed up with friends Tobey Maguire and Kevin Connolly to shoot a small-scale, black-and-white indie called Don’s Plum. The film, set over a single night, follows a group of young actors as they hang out and talk, capturing a raw, unfiltered slice of their lives. Producer Dale Wheatley described the project as
“a group of friends saying, ‘Let’s all make a movie…’ In many ways, [it] was a love letter to our friends.”
Behind the Scenes: From Friendship to Fallout
While the one-night format has produced classics like Before Sunset and My Dinner With Andre, Don’s Plum took a different turn. After filming wrapped, DiCaprio and Maguire moved to block the movie’s release, claiming they’d only agreed to appear in a short film and that the final cut had been changed without their approval. Despite efforts by director RD Robb and producer David Stutman to get the film released, it only saw a limited, edited release outside North America. Attempts to make it available online were quickly shut down after legal action from DiCaprio and Maguire.
The question remains: why was there such a strong push to keep Don’s Plum under wraps? The film’s improvisational style may have hit too close to home, revealing sides of the actors that clashed with their public images. At a time when DiCaprio was already the subject of wild tabloid rumors, he likely wasn’t eager for audiences to see him using harsh language and behaving like a reckless, entitled young man.
The Legacy of a Suppressed Film
Even though DiCaprio’s filmography includes a few less celebrated titles like Celebrity and J. Edgar, he’s always managed to deliver compelling performances. Don’s Plum, however, remains a rare outlier—an obscure project that’s been all but erased from his official story. With so many acclaimed movies to his name, it’s no surprise that this early experiment has faded into the background, just as he probably intended.