We’re a little under three months until one of our most-anticipated films of the fall arrives and while the stellar first trailer is all we needed to see to buy into Martin Scorsese‘s The Wolf of Wall Street, we can expect much more to be revealed in the coming months. Today brings a welcome diversion, however, as no new footage from the Leonardo DiCaprio-led black comedy has landed, but rather a fascinating interview and a batch of behind-the-scenes stills.
Appearing over at Vulture, the main players discuss the wild elements of the film, how it took some time to get to the screen, the process of preparing and more. DiCaprio says when Scorsese “couldn’t do it the first time, I set it up with a few other directors, but I never felt comfortable pulling the trigger. I was fixated on him. There wasn’t anybody else who could bring the rawness and toughness, the music, and particularly the humor required to convey the excitement of these young punks—these robber barons—taking on the Wall Street system.”
Terence Winter, who adapted Jordan Belfort’s true story, based on his own novel, says that Wolf of Wall Street is distinctly separated from other satirical films set in the financial world, such as American Psycho and Wall Street. The writer says, “For all the bad things he’s done, he’s so utterly charming. That’s why I’m glad we kept the voice-over; you need his hilarious asides.” DiCaprio adds, there’s “pretty sadistic humor. We take the lives of the people in the film seriously; we don’t take the genre seriously.” He goes on to say, “We weren’t interested in sentimentalizing Jordan. We aren’t painting a portrait of someone we want people to feel sorry for. Later in the film, when his life starts breaking apart, people are going to think he’s making the wrong decisions constantly. That’s not to say that people won’t be rooting for him, because he’s a likable guy.”
Check out the new stills above and below:
The Wolf of Wall Street opens on November 15th.