You’d be hard pressed trying to name a movie star who encapsulates the ’80s quite like Corey Feldman. While the award-winning actor landed legendary roles in iconic films such as 1984’s Gremlins, 1985’s The Goonies, and 1986’s Stand By Me, he also spent his time and energy contending with sexual abuse in Hollywood, battling substance abuse, navigating marital problems, and attempting to build a successful career in the music industry. Now, in a new interview on Billy Corgan’s Magnificent Others podcast, the 53-year-old has opened up about losing a role on What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, which he attributes to Johnny Depp.
Speaking to The Smashing Pumpkins’ frontman, Feldman said that he “still felt bitter” about not getting the opportunity to play Arnie in the 1993 coming-of-age classic. Of course, Arnie — a youngster with autism — was ultimately portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio who ended up garnering widespread acclaim for the role as well as winning multiple awards. “So, I was actually cast to play Leonardo DiCaprio’s role. I never saw the film because I’m still bitter. Still a bitter leaf in that one. But yes, I was originally cast for that role.“
“Did they push you out?” Corgan asks. “Johnny Depp,” Feldman answers, nodding. “He was cast after I was, and apparently whispered into the producers’ ear that he wasn’t fond of me, and thought — he said that I was a junkie and that he didn’t work with junkies. And this is the first time I’ve ever telling this story, so I’m sure I’m gonna get hung by this one.”
“Were you using drugs?” Corgan enquires. “No, I was sober. I has just gotten sober. I had just gotten out of rehab. I had turned my life around, and, in fact, was trying to help River [Phoenix] at the time, who [Depp] was running with at the time, as we all know.”
Continuing on, Feldman explained: “As you can imagine, there was a bit of a thorn in the side on that one. And, had I not been pushed out and done that role, who knows what would have happened from that point forward.”
Interestingly, later in the interview, Feldman touches on another major role that he claims he lost to Leonardo DiCaprio. “Ironically, just a couple years later, I also was up for Titanic, so there was kind of a double banger with Leo,” he recalled. “But that was okay, because that one I wasn’t as close. I was up for it, I read for it, I know that I was in the contention somewhere.“
As the dust begins to settle following yesterday’s interview, fans chimed in with their thoughts and reactions to Feldman’s claims. One Redditor joked, “When Depp is calling you a junkie you know you have a problem” while another sarcastically took aim at the beloved actor’s unsuccessful music career, penning, “Thankfully it gave Feldman more time to work on his music career.”
Elsewhere, many fans were united in their belief that the right actor landed the role of Arnie in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, with one expressing: “That role still is my favorite DiCaprio performance. I can’t imagine anyone pulling it off anywhere nearly as well as he did – let alone lil Corey here lol“
You can check out the entire interview below:
