Los Angeles: Child actor Julia Butters, who had one of most scene-stealing moments in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, has said she was unaware who superstars Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt were, until she auditioned for the film.
The 10-year-old Butters featured as a committed child actor Trudi Fraser in Quentin Tarantino’s 1969-set drama.
Butters confessed she did not know how big were DiCaprio and Brad Pitt were until she told her math tutor that she was going to audition for the film.
“This is the weird way I found out: I told my math tutor that I was going up for the part, and he said, ‘Oh, that’s the movie with Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio!’ I didn’t know who they were. As far as I was concerned, Leonardo DiCaprio was Leonardo da Vinci,” Butters was quoted as saying by the ‘The Hollywood Reporter’.
Butters, who has a scene with DiCaprio in the film, said she wasn’t ‘starstruck’ by the actors. “I’m not as starstruck as most adults would be,” informed Butters.
The young actor said she tried to be a true professional like her character, adding DiCaprio was even more of a pro. “He was really quiet and invested in the reality. In between scenes, he’d invite me to come talk,” Butters stated.
Butters said they discussed many things, even touched upon DiCaprio’s career as a child actor.
“We talked about his experiences as a child actor. He told me to always be professional and focused when you’re working. He said, ‘You’ve clearly aced that already’,” she recalled.
Billed as Tarantino’s ode to the Hollywood of his childhood, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood explores how the Golden Age of the industry came to an end with the murder of actor Sharon Tate at the hands of the Manson Family cult in 1969.
It features DiCaprio as Rick Dalton, an ageing, out-of-work actor, with Pitt playing his longtime stunt double named Cliff Booth. The two characters happen to be the neighbours of Tate, essayed by Margot Robbie in the film.
Agencies