Leonardo DiCaprio took extra precautions for his spanking scene with Robert De Niro in Killers of the Flower Moon by wearing butt padding.
“I do remember doing them quite a few times and thinking, ‘Oh, that must hurt,’ cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto said in an interview with Insider published on Tuesday, October 24, of the scene between DiCaprio, 48, and De Niro, 80. “There was some padding on [DiCaprio’s] butt. But you could tell De Niro was really hitting him.”
Prieto, 57, added that DiCaprio was “game for so much” and that he would “do anything” for the film.
Martin Scorsese’s adaptation of Killers of the Flower Moon is based on the critically acclaimed 2017 nonfiction book by David Grann that recalls the murders of the indigenous people in Osage County, Oklahoma during the 1920s. DiCaprio plays Ernest Burkhart, the nephew of businessman William Hale (De Niro) who came up with a devious plan to kill a wealthy Osage family after oil was found on their land.
The wealthy family happens to be related to Ernest’s wife Mollie Kyle (Lily Gladstone). In addition to telling the story of the formation of the FBI and its investigation into the Osage Nation murders, the film also tells Ernest and Mollie’s love story.
However, Ernest fumbled part of his uncle’s plan and received the punishment of being spanked with a paddle. The spanking scene takes place about halfway through the film, which has a lengthy run time of 3 hours and 26 minutes. Prieto was surprised to learn that the paddling scene was added to the film since there was no mention of it in Grann’s novel.
“I don’t think that was in the first script,” Prieto shared. “That was something that was added, and it’s shocking in the film.”
While the film was in production, the current Osage Nation Chief Standing Bear consulted on the film to make sure his people’s story was accurately told.
“My people suffered greatly, and to this very day, those effects are with us,” Geoffrey Standing Bear said during a Flower Moon press conference in May 2023. “But I can say, on behalf of the Osage, Marty Scorsese and his team have restored trust, and we know that trust will not be betrayed.”
In September 2023, Scorsese, 80, opened up about how he wanted to shift the perspective of the film from the early days of the FBI to Ernest and Mollie’s relationship instead.
“After a certain point, I realized I was making a movie about all the white guys,” Scorsese explained to Time. “Meaning I was taking the approach from the outside in, which concerned me.”
The decision to focus on Ernest and Mollie gave Gladstone, 37, a chance to shine with Scorsese noting that the actress has a “fierceness and serenity at the same time. And it’s encased in this intelligence—the eyes say it all.”
