Leonardo DiCaprio: Viking Warrior

[Jocassee]

How well did DiCaprio do with a South African accent?

I don't know if it was excellent but it was certainly passable. Considering his character was originally Rhodesian, he kind of came across as a mix between an "English" SA accent and an Afrikaans one.

Peter Vosloo, the Kommandant for Executive Outcomes, is a South African. Those two or three lines he said in Afrikaans got me all excited, I hadn't heard the Taal for two years.

[Monkeyleg]

Apparently he was more comfortable trying the SA accent than a Boston accent. In "The Departed," he doesn't seem to affect an accent, while Sheen, Damon and Wahlberg butcher it. (I don't recall ever hearing anyone from Boston pronounce the word "cop" as though it had two syllables).

[Cromlech]

That's pretty weird, seeing as Wahlberg is from Boston.

[lupinus]

Crom beat me to it 

Mr. Marky Mark is from Dorchester, Mass.

[thebaldguy]

I think he's a pretty good actor. I think he did a great job in The Departed and Blood Diamonds. I think he did pretty good in The Gangs of New York as well. It took a while to forget about Titanic, but I think he's done a pretty good job acting since then.

As far as playing a Viking, Hollywood has given us an incorrect impression of what Vikings looked like. I remember reading years ago that the average Viking was 5' 6" tall and probably somewhat skinny or malnurished.  They didn't look like Hagar the Horrible with horned helmets. And while they were good fighters, many places just gave up the loot when the Vikings showed up to avoid a conflict with them.

As a person who has Norwegian/Swedish roots, I have read quite a bit about them. I remember getting into an arguement with a middle school teacher years ago about who discovered America. I pointed out that there was evidence of Viking settlement in Newfoundland around 1000 AD, centuries before Columbus set sail. Our history book made no mention of the Vikings in the area at all, and gave all the credit to Columbus. Since it wasn't in our history book, she said, I was wrong. I do remind people every Columbus Day that the Vikings were the first Europeans who truly discovered the New World.

[mtnbkr]

Our history book made no mention of the Vikings in the area at all, and gave all the credit to Columbus. Since it wasn't in our history book, she said, I was wrong. I do remind people every Columbus Day that the Vikings were the first Europeans who truly discovered the New World.

Except they couldn't make it stick like Columbus and his contemporaries.

There's evidence of visits by the Chinese and Basque peoples prior to Columbus as well.  Once again, they couldn't make it stick.

Chris

[thebaldguy]

Except they couldn't make it stick like Columbus and his contemporaries.

There's evidence of visits by the Chinese and Basque peoples prior to Columbus as well.  Once again, they couldn't make it stick.

Chris

My dad used to tell me that the reason why the Vikings weren't in history books is that it wasn't a Norwegian who wrote that book. He was right. I thought that was pretty funny. It's a Norwegian sense of humor thing.

[Monkeyleg]

That's pretty weird, seeing as Wahlberg is from Boston.

Well, then, everyone else from Boston I've heard speak must be faking it, then.

I can't say I've ever heard the word "cop" pronounced "kahwup."

[Silver Bullet]

Except they couldn't make it stick like Columbus and his contemporaries.

There's evidence of visits by the Chinese and Basque peoples prior to Columbus as well.  Once again, they couldn't make it stick.

Chris

Exactly right, Columbus gets the credit because his discovery led to the European immigration.

If you want to use a yardstick of who was there first, well I suspect that the American Indians were there before the Vikings.

[Balog]

Gangs of New York! That's the one. Good flick.

[Viking]

I think he's a pretty good actor. I think he did a great job in The Departed and Blood Diamonds. I think he did pretty good in The Gangs of New York as well. It took a while to forget about Titanic, but I think he's done a pretty good job acting since then.

As far as playing a Viking, Hollywood has given us an incorrect impression of what Vikings looked like. I remember reading years ago that the average Viking was 5' 6" tall and probably somewhat skinny or malnurished.  They didn't look like Hagar the Horrible with horned helmets. And while they were good fighters, many places just gave up the loot when the Vikings showed up to avoid a conflict with them.

As a person who has Norwegian/Swedish roots, I have read quite a bit about them. I remember getting into an arguement with a middle school teacher years ago about who discovered America. I pointed out that there was evidence of Viking settlement in Newfoundland around 1000 AD, centuries before Columbus set sail. Our history book made no mention of the Vikings in the area at all, and gave all the credit to Columbus. Since it wasn't in our history book, she said, I was wrong. I do remind people every Columbus Day that the Vikings were the first Europeans who truly discovered the New World.

Contemporary writers (ibn Fadlan) wrote "I have seen the Rus as they came on their merchant journeys and encamped by the Volga. I have never seen more perfect physical specimens, tall as date palms, blonde and ruddy; they wear neither tunics nor caftans, but the men wear a garment which covers one side of the body and leaves a hand free."
Then again, they might've been tall compared to him only. Still, "perfect physical specimens" seems to indicate that they were quite well-muscled...

[seeker_two]

Can't picture DiCaprici as a Viking.  Sort of like having him play King Leonidas, just doesn't fit.

If Tim Robbins and Mickey Rooney can do it, DiCaprio certainly can't do any worse....

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097289/

[BryanP]

That's pretty weird, seeing as Wahlberg is from Boston.

And Matt Damon is originally from Cambridge, Mass.  

[Monkeyleg]

I thought he was from Payton, Iowa. Oh, wait. That was Private Ryan.

What about Martin Sheen?

[CAnnoneer]

If Tim Robbins and Mickey Rooney can do it, DiCaprio certainly can't do any worse....

'Erik the Viking' was a comedic parody with no pretensions of historical correctness.

[CAnnoneer]

As far as playing a Viking, Hollywood has given us an incorrect impression of what Vikings looked like. I remember reading years ago that the average Viking was 5' 6" tall and probably somewhat skinny or malnurished.  They didn't look like Hagar the Horrible with horned helmets. And while they were good fighters, many places just gave up the loot when the Vikings showed up to avoid a conflict with them.

It depends on the level of nourishment.

Technically, the vikings were smaller not because of genetics but because of food shortages. One of the ways this is known is by the distance between oar holes in viking ship remains. If you look at the special features of 'The Vikings' with Kirk Douglas, they carefully made three replicas of historical viking ships and discovered the distance issue. So, they had to use every other row of seats to fit modern, well-fed men.

However, when food is enough, the nordics tend to grow big and tall, as witnessed both by modern man and by historical records, e.g. the one already posted.

So, unless Leonardo is to depict a starving, systematically malnourished kind of Viking, he does not fit the role by any stretch.

[mtnbkr]

According to this (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000138/bio), he is 6' tall.  If he puts on some muscle mass for the role, he'll fit the stereotype just fine.

Chris

[longeyes]

Di Caprio's gotten better as he's gotten older.  Gangs of New York?  The Departed?  He has the chops. 

The secret may be in surrounding him with shorter Vikings.

Anyway, they need a big name to front something that will obviously have a sizeable budget.

[CAnnoneer]

I realized just now why DiCaprio is there - to make Mel Gibson look more physically impressive by comparison. What, he'll miss the chance to star in his own movie?

[roo_ster]

According to this (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000138/bio), he is 6' tall.  If he puts on some muscle mass for the role, he'll fit the stereotype just fine.

Chris

Yeah, and when I played football I was 6'3" and weighed in at 245lbs.

In the off season I was only 6' and 215lbs.

I do suspect LDC's stats are similarly inflated.

[Iain]

It's a film. DiCaprio will look fine. See Matt Damon in Invictus - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqKjVo-9qso - check the 55 second mark or thereabouts.