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The 1993 film What’s Eating Gilbert Grape earned Leonardo DiCaprio his first Oscar nomination and announced the young star as a major new talent.
But Hollywood history almost played out very differently, as ’80s icon Corey Feldman was originally cast in the role of Johnny Depp’s developmentally disabled younger brother, Arnie Grape.
And it seems that it was Depp who decided that Feldman wasn’t right for the part.
At least that’s the scandalous claim Feldman made during a recent appearance on Billy Corgan’s new podcast.
(Yes, this story has more Gen X and millennial nostalgia bait than a Nirvana cover band performing in a Blockbuster parking lot.)
Corey Feldman says he was treated unfairly following ‘What’s Eating Gilbert Grape’ casting
“I was actually cast to play Leonardo DiCaprio’s role,” Feldman explained to Corgan.
“Johnny Depp … was cast after I was and apparently whispered into the producers’ ear that he wasn’t fond of me,” he said.
According to Feldman, Depp objected to his history of drug use. Which is somewhat ironic, as Depp’s issues with substance abuse have been well-documented over the years.
“He said I was a junkie and that he didn’t work with junkies,” Feldman claimed, adding that “this is the first time I remember ever telling this story, so I’m sure I’m gonna get hung by this one.”
Feldman says the dismissal was made even more painful by the fact that after being exposed to drugs and alcohol at a very young age, he was newly sober at the time.
“I was sober. I had just gotten sober,” he insisted. “I had just gotten out of rehab. I had turned my life around.
“In fact, [I] was trying to help River [Phoenix] at the time,” Feldman added.
Phoenix, who was Feldman’s costar in the beloved 1989 film Stand By Me, died of a drug overdose in a club owned by Depp.
The 23-year-old passed in October of 1993, just months after filming wrapped on What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.
Feldman says he’s haunted by thoughts of what might have been
DiCaprio, of course, went on to become one of the most revered stars in Hollywood history.
Would that have been Feldman’s fate if he had been allowed to remain on Gilbert Grape?
We’ll never know, of course, but Feldman says the memory of being treated unfairly haunts him to this day.
“Had I not been pushed out and done that role, who knows what would have happened from the point forward,” he said. “That gave Leonardo his first [Oscar] nomination.”
Feldman says that more than 30 years later, he still has not watched What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.
It’s an incredible film filled with amazing performances — but in Corey’s case, that might be more reason not to watch it.
Corey Feldman Says Johnny Depp Got Him Fired From ‘Gilbert Grape,’ Accused … was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.