Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro embraces his love of film noir in his dark new drama “Nightmare Alley,” and he originally planned to team up with another known cinephile: Leonardo DiCaprio. The Oscar-winning “The Revenant” actor was originally attached to star in “Nightmare Alley” for del Toro, but was eventually replaced with Bradley Cooper in the role of Stanton Carlisle.
While speaking with TheWrap about the journey of getting “Nightmare Alley” to the screen, del Toro explained exactly why DiCaprio’s casting didn’t happen. As it turns out, it all came down to scheduling. “He was interested because we have a common fascination for the carnival, but very quickly within the process it was evident that there was gonna be a conflict of dates,” del Toro explained.