Leonardo DiCaprio once auditioned for a role in Steven Spielberg’s 1991 movie Hook. The movie starred Robin Williams, Julia Roberts, Dustin Hoffman, and Bob Hoskins. While it wasn’t a massive box office success upon its release in 1991, it has since gone on to become a cult classic, thanks in part to the acting performances of the main cast and its story. A young DiCaprio went in to audition and Spielberg apparently didn’t think he was the right actor for a major role.
Since Hook came out in December 1991, it’s safe to assume that the casting process took place in 1990, which is well before Leonardo DiCaprio received his reoccurring role on Growing Pains. The Amblin Entertainment Instagram account shared images of DiCaprio trying out for the movie over the weekend. According to the caption, it appears it was an accident that the young actor was even included in these shots as the photographer was compiling images for a piece on the casting directors. It’s something DiCaprio more than likely forgot about or maybe blocked from his memory.
It’s unclear what role Leonardo DiCaprio was trying out for. He was around 15 or 16 at the time of the Hook audition, so he would have likely been too old for the role of Jack. Instead, it’s probable that he was trying out for one of the Lost Boys, perhaps even Rufio, which would have been pretty interesting when looking back. Whatever the case may be, DiCaprio wasn’t what Steven Spielberg and the casting directors were looking for at that particular time. DiCaprio and Spielberg didn’t work together until 2002’s Catch Me If You Can, which was a commercial success.
There have been rumors suggesting that Leonardo DiCaprio actually did have a role in Hook, though he was uncredited. In the scene where Rufio and Robin Williams’ Peter Pan are facing off and trading insults, there is a Lost Boy next to Rufio who looks a lot like DiCaprio. He even has a speaking role, saying, “Come on Rufio, Hit em’ back.” It hasn’t been confirmed, but it certainly looks a lot like the young actor next to Dante Basco’s Rufio. Regardless, the images from Amblin place DiCaprio at a very different time in his acting career.
A few years after Hook was released, Leonardo DiCaprio went on to star opposite Robert De Niro in This Boy’s Life. From there, his career started to blow up, earning him the lead role in James Cameron’s epic Titanic movie. Hook probably would not have been the movie to launch the young actor’s career at that point in time, though it probably would not have hurt either. You can check out Leonardo DiCaprio’s audition photos above, thanks to the Amblin Road Instagram account. Additionally, you can check out the aforementioned clip from Hook below. The scene in question comes in at the 57-second mark.
