Leonardo DiCaprio Reveals Sharon Stone Once Paid His Salary

Leonardo DiCaprio made clear on the Nov. 16 episode of E! News that he owes Sharon Stone an eternal debt of gratitude for all the generosity she's shown him. In her memoir, released in 2021, the Casino actor revealed that she actually paid DiCaprio's salary when he was an up-and-coming actor in the 1995 Western film The Quick and the Dead because the studio didn't want to hire him back then. 

"I've thanked her many times," the Wolf of Wall Street star told E! News. "I don't know if I sent her an actual, physical thank you gift, but I cannot thank her enough." DiCaprio described Stone as "amazing" in the interview before going on to mention that Stone "did that with myself and Russell Crowe at the time."

As he explained, Stone was impressed by his performance in the 1993 movie What's Eating Gilbert Grape, as well as Crowe's performance in the 1992 movie Romper Stomper, and wanted them to be a part of the project. "She said, 'These are the two actors I want to work with,'" he said. "It's incredible. She's been a huge champion of cinema and giving other actors opportunities, so I'm very thankful."

As also the producer and star of The Quick and the Dead, Stone wrote in The Beauty of Living Twice in 2021 that she had bet everything on her decision to hire DiCaprio for the film. "This kid named Leonardo DiCaprio was the only one who nailed the audition, in my opinion: he was the only one who came in and cried, begging his father to love him as he died in the scene," she wrote, per Insider. "The studio said if I wanted him so much, I could pay him out of my own salary. So I did."

In recent years, DiCaprio has won an Oscar, and he just appeared in a film directed by Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon. Based on the murders of members of the Osage Nation in the 1920s after oil was discovered on their land, the film is starring Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone, and Jesse Plemons.

DiCaprio told Good Morning America why he believes this film is an important one for audiences to watch. "The story is a microcosm for many other stories about the persecution of Native Americans," he said. "But look, this is still going on today."