Leonardo DiCaprio Discusses The Story Behind THE REVENANT In New Featurette

Academy Award-winning director Alejandro G. Iñárritu brings the legend of Hugh Glass to the screen with THE REVENANT, an epic adventure set in the unchartered 19th century American Frontier. Immersing audiences in the unparalleled beauty, mystery and dangers of life in 1823 America, the film explores one man’s transformation in a quest for survival.

Part thriller, part wilderness journey, THE REVENANT explores primal drives not only for life itself but for dignity, justice, faith, family and home.

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson and Will Poulter, 20th Century Fox has released a new featurette where the cast and filmmakers give a behind-the-scenes look at the film’s story.

Of the director, DiCaprio says he gave Iñárritu his full trust. “What I really love about Alejandro’s approach is that he’s an old-school filmmaker who believes in the art of creating something on the screen — and he’s also kind of an outsider, even though he works on the inside. He understands the industry as it is now, but he’s been influenced by an entire lifetime of studying cinema history and developed his own uncompromising style that is now synonymous with his name. There are very few filmmakers out there who can escape the Hollywood mold and yet accomplish a film like this one on such an epic scale.”

The film’s wilderness-based production mirrored the harsh conditions Glass and company actually lived through in the 1800s. Iñárritu and his whole cast and crew were up for all that was thrown at them, welcoming the challenges of shooting in Canada and Argentina, regions known for unpredictable weather and untouched wilds, in order to fully understand the experience of fur trappers in the early 19th century. (Trailer)

Iñárritu collaborated closely with Golden Globe-winning and Academy Award-nominated actor Leonardo DiCaprio in a one-of-a-kind role as physically intense as it is emotionally raw. Along with Hardy, Gleeson and Poulter, Iñárritu guided a diverse international and Native American cast into the unseen past.

1,500 Native Americans and Canadian First Nations appear in the film.

Actress Grace Dove plays Powaqa, Glass’s fictional Pawnee wife. Dove is Secwepemc from Canim Lake First Nation.

In an interview with the Prince George, British Columbia newspaper, Prince George Citizen, the actress says, “Alejandro has so much respect for our culture and I really appreciate that.”

Read the full interview here.

Grace Dove seen at Twentieth Century Fox World Premiere of ‘The Revenant’ at TCL Chinese Theatre on Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2015, in Hollywood, CA. (Photo by Eric Charbonneau/Invision for Twentieth Century Fox/AP Images)

THE REVENANT’s score is by Ryuichi Sakamoto and Alva Noto, with additional music by  Bryce Dessner, Listen to one of 2015’s best scores here on Spotify: open.spotify.com/album/52ADh5kEUzdTYKGCACXhWo

THE REVENANT opens in theaters on January 8, 2016

Visit the official site: http://www.foxmovies.com/movies/the-revenant

Photo Credit: Kimberley French Copyright © 2015 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.

Director Alejandro G. Iñárritu and Leonardo DiCaprio on location for THE REVENANT.