Leonardo DiCaprio rejoined Martin Scorsese to play Teddy Daniels in the thriller “Shutter Island,” and the actor called it one of his most demanding roles to date.
“It was a very difficult character to take on,” said DiCaprio while discussing the film adaptation of Dennis Lehane’s best-selling novel. “Every day on set was a challenge for me.”
In “Shutter Island,” DiCaprio plays a U.S. Marshal who travels with his partner, played by Mark Ruffalo, to an isle full of psychotic criminals to investigate the disappearance of a murderous woman.
As a violent storm bearing down on the island escalates, DiCaprio comes closer and closer to cracking the case while at the same time uncovering terrifying secrets -- possible conspiracies, secret wards and unethical brain experiments. The more he discovers, the more he questions his partner and his own sanity.
“Shutter Island” is the fourth collaboration between DiCaprio and Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese. Their previous efforts, "The Aviator," "The Departed" and "Gangs of New York," earned 26 Oscar nominations and nine wins.
Despite their familiarity with one another, DiCaprio still managed to surprise his director.
“I had faith and trust in him as an artist to achieve the many psychological and emotional states that Teddy has to reach, and to transform throughout,” said Scorsese of DiCaprio. “Have I seen him do this before? Not to this level, I think. As he gets older, he goes deeper and deeper.”
Shutter Island will be released on February 19.
