Leonardo DiCaprio Did Not Enjoy Using The Flamethrower In ‘Once Upon A Time In Hollywood’

(Warning: Spoilers for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood below.)

The exact moment I knew Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was going to be a good movie (because it is) was 23 seconds into the first trailer, when an eyepatch-wearing Leonardo DiCaprio yells “did anybody order fried sauerkraut!” while torching “Nazi bastards” with a flamethrower. Speaking of that flamethrower: unlike The 14 Fists of McCluskey star Rick Dalton, who keeps the working prop in his toolshed, Leonardo DiCaprio was not a fan.

That’s according to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood co-stunt coordinator Robert Alonzo, who told the Huffington Post that the Oscar winner “was not very gung-ho with all the flamethrower stuff. Literally, he doesn’t want to hurt anyone. And I completely understood it. Normally you use a stunt person in that spot to be able to manage firing a flamethrower at somebody. When I did Tropic Thunder, Nick Nolte fired a flamethrower at me.” Imagine going to your high school reunion and the kid you sat behind during 11th grade math asks what you do for a living. She probably expects “doctor” or “lawyer,” but nope, “I’m a stunt coordinator, and this one time Nick Nolte fired a flamethrower at me.”

Anyway, unlike what happened on Tropic Thunder, DiCaprio “is actually lighting them up and holding a flame to them for about seven to eight seconds as the flamethrower is traversing back and forth around eight guys that he’s never met,” Alonzo said. “That is psychologically difficult to do, so kudos to him on being able to stay in character and do that scene.” When the scene was over, DiCaprio made everyone give the stunt team a round of applause. Presumably he was more comfortable using the flamethrower the second time…

I can understand Leo’s hesitation about setting people on fire, but there was no need to feel bad: Nazis aren’t people; they’re monsters.