Corey Feldman has said that Johnny Depp pushed him out of a role in 1993 film What’s Eating Gilbert Grape because he thought he was a “junkie”.
The 53-year-old actor, known best for his work in Eighties movies such as Gremlins, The Goonies and Stand by Me, said he was originally cast to play Arnie, Depp’s on-screen younger brother. However, the role was given to Leonardo DiCaprio after the complaint. Di Caprio went on to secure an Oscar nomination for his performance.
"I was actually cast to play Leonardo DiCaprio's role," Feldman said on the Magnificent Others podcast. "I never saw the film because I'm still bitter. But yes, I was originally cast for that role."
Asked if he was pushed out, Feldman nodded and said: "Johnny Depp. 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."
The Independent has contacted Depp and Feldman’s representatives for comment.
Feldman, who has been open about his struggles with substance addiction throughout the years, said the concern was ill-founded at the time.
"I was sober. I had 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.
“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."
He admitted: "There was a bitter tea there. But that said, you don't hang on those – you get past 'em."
Feldman also suggested that he had been up for the lead in Titanic as well, which he also lost out to DiCaprio, calling it “a double banger with Leo”. But, he said “that was OK, 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”.
In another case of missed opportunities ,the star said he lost out on the role of Samwise Gamgee in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which was eventually given to his Goonies co-star Sean Astin.
But he said the job would have been a bad fit for him anyway: “I couldn’t have gained the weight, so I’ll give him that”.
