Thirty years after sharing a magazine cover proclaiming them among Hollywood’s “star actors”, Leonardo Di Caprio And Benicio Del Toro finally share the screen in this year’s most acclaimed film, One battle after another.
“You admire actors your whole life, and Benicio is one of them,” DiCaprio told Gold Derby. “We kind of grew up in this industry together, way back in the late ’90s. I remember us being on the same cover a long time ago as A-list actors.” It refers to an April 1996 issue of Vanity Fair.
In A battleDiCaprio plays Bob Ferguson, a washed-up former revolutionary, while Del Toro tackles the role of Sergio St. Carlos, Willa’s sensei (Chase Infiniti), Bob’s rebellious teenage daughter. They’re both receiving major Oscar buzz for the latest Paul Thomas Anderson film, which won first prizes at the Gotham Awards, the National Board of Review and various critics groups, and also earned the most nominations at the Golden Globes.
“Seeing his career and the choices he’s made has been incredible,” DiCaprio adds of his partner. He explains how the producers “stopped production and waited” for Del Toro to be available, while he was working on another project at the same time. “Most of my stuff is with Benicio, and I knew I needed that trust and partnership with someone I admired as an artist.”
When the two met on set, their connection was “automatic,” says DiCaprio. “The first day, I felt like we had this dynamic with Bob and sensei Carlos, and it came from the fundamental thing you look for in another actor, which is specificity. He was so specific about who his character was and what he would and wouldn’t do, and that opened me up and relaxed me as a partner in this business. That specificity rang true with the audience, I think. It was an automatic thing that happened between us that didn’t need words.”
“Enough!” Del Toro bursts out laughing after hearing all these glowing comments. “I could say that directly to Leo. The thing about Leo was his sense of humor.” Del Toro tells Gold Derby that DiCaprio brings a “truth of reality” on camera, while off camera he is incredibly “generous.” “There aren’t many actors like Leo who have this gift of lighting up wherever they go.
“As he said about me, I have admired his work for a long time. It was the right moment to bring the two experiences together, so that one could feed off the other, and vice versa,” Del Toro continues. “That made it really special for me. Sometimes you work with actors, and they can be rigid about what they want to do. One thing about Leo, and this sounds like a cliché, but it’s a fact, is that he’s going to make you better.”
One battle after another marked Infiniti’s first film role, and Del Toro explains that “Leo was there for her, like The Rye Catcherand it shows, it shows. He does that through and through, with everyone, and I’ve seen it. I’m grateful he did it with me too.” Del Toro also celebrated Infiniti’s performance, calling her “super talented” and “incredible.”
Referring to a scene that went viral online, in which Carlos does a backwards shimmy after being arrested for drunk driving, Del Toro admits he wasn’t going there “for laughs.” “[That moment] came out of the truth,” he said. “I’m surprised people find this stuff funny. I’m not trying to be funny. I’m just trying to say, you know, I’ve had a few beers, and maybe this little dance at the end comes out.”
According to DiCaprio, Bob would not have succeeded in his mission without the sensei’s help. “It’s the old phrase of Star Wars: ‘Obi-Wan, you’re my only hope,’ he laughed.[Carlos] is the only person in this chaotic neighborhood, repressed by military forces beyond comprehension, to whom he can surrender, who has a connection with his daughter, whom he knows will guide him. … It brought a very acute reality to who these men were, and deep down you felt that they were good people. They’re trying to help each other, and that says a lot about the world we live in. We must be kind to each other, within our own boundaries and our own limits.”
DiCaprio is a seven-time Academy Award nominee, winning Best Actor for The ghost (2015). Del Toro won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Traffic (2000), and was also nominated for 21 grams (2003). Nominations for the 2026 Oscars will be announced on January 22.
