Leonardo DiCaprio has decided not to play Rumi in the upcoming biopic of the Sufi mystic, thus he won’t be guilty of ‘whitewashing’, after all.
Earlier, Producers David Franzoni and Stephen Joel Brown created furore when they said they wanted DiCaprio, to play the role of the 13th-century old poet who was born in Afghanistan.
Leo wasn’t the only actor touted to be playing a non-white character; Robert Downey Jr was said to star as Shams of Tabriz in the same movie.
“This is the level of casting that we’re talking about,” The Guardian had reported Stephan as saying.
However, according to The Hollywood Reporter a source close to Leo said, “He hasn’t been asked, but regardless he will not be pursuing the project. He’s finishing his forthcoming climate-change documentary.”
Leo hasn’t acted in nearly two years since his Oscar-winning performance in The Revenant and he hasn’t signed any upcoming projects. He is currently vacationing with model girlfriend Nina Adgal in the Bahamas.
Although he has not shared what he will be working on next, chances are he might consider Ben Affleck’s upcoming directorial Live by Night and a horror-thriller Delirium.