Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon is now in theaters and according to cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, there’s one scene in the film that is especially realistic. In an interview with Insider (via Variety), the scene where Robert De Niro’s character, William King Hale, spanks Leonardo DiCaprio’s Ernest Burkhart was real on set — and DiCaprio even had to wear padding on his butt for it. According to Prieto, the scene wasn’t in the first script and it was something that they did a few times — enough that he commented how it had to have hurt.
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“I don’t think that was in the first script,” Prieto said of the scene. “That was something that was added, and it’s shocking in the film.”
The scene in question comes midway in the film and sees Ernest (DiCaprio) punished by his uncle William (De Niro) for messing up a part of the latter’s larger plan to steal the wealth from the Osage.
Prieto continued, “I do remember doing them quite a few times and thinking, ‘Oh, that must hurt.’ There was some padding on his butt. But you could tell De Niro was really hitting him… Leo is game for so much. He’ll do anything.”
What is Killers of the Flower Moon About?
Killers of the Flower Moon is a Western crime drama telling the true story of the Osage murders in Oklahoma in the 1920s. It’s based on David Grann’s bestselling book of the same name and, in addition to DiCaprio and De Niro, the film also stars Lily Gladstone, Jesse Plemons, John Lithgow, Brendan Fraser, Tantoo Cardinal, Louis Cancelmi, Jason Isbell, Sturgill Simpson, Tatanka Means, Pat Healy, Scott Shepherd, and Gary Basaraba.
“I did visit the set for a few days,” Grann said in a recent interview with Vanity Fair. “And I was, again, just really impressed by how they managed to bring these historical figures to life and capture the hidden truths about the story. Leo [DiCaprio] just seemed to just be able to capture the nature of Ernest Burkhart, and the level of complicity of his character, and this evil system. And Lily Gladstone brings Mollie to life with such sensitivity and emotional power, at least in the bits I saw.”
“What I was struck by from Scorsese to the actors was the level of commitment and how much research they did to understand the parts and understand the history. They just seemed voracious, a little bit like historians, in their search for any knowledge, transcripts, documents, speaking to descendants, speaking with members of the Osage Nation,” Grann continued. “The film had Osage-language experts working with the actors to make sure they were able to teach them the language and that they got the language right, technically. I saw a scene where many of the tribal council members of the Osage Nation were speaking, and I think they contributed to a lot of that dialogue themselves. I think anyone who sees that will find it bracing and breathtaking and powerful.”
Killers of the Flower Moon is in theaters now.
