Leonardo DiCaprio Improvised The Wolf of Wall Street’s Iconic Pen Scene

Leonardo DiCaprio improvised the famous pen scene in The Wolf of Wall Street, says Jon Bernthal. The acclaimed American actor reunited with director Martin Scorsese on the 2013 film, which adapted the 2007 memoir of the same name by Jordan Belfort. While some audiences found its depiction of excessive depravity controversial, the movie was reviewed positively by critics and DiCaprio picked up an Oscar nomination for his lead performance.

As an account of one man’s rise and fall as a corrupt stockbroker, The Wolf of Wall Street contains many supposedly true stories that defy belief, and the film accordingly plays with the reliability of DiCaprio’s character as a narrator. However, regardless of whether what occurs in each scene really happened, they were all actually filmed, and the production of Scorsese’s movie has accrued legendary status since its release. Cast and crew members have shared many interesting behind-the-scenes anecdotes over the past few years, ranging from elements as benign as Matthew McConaughey’s chant to ones as shocking as some potential confusion during an orgy scene.

In his recent Hot Ones interview, Bernthal adds to the tamer side of the canon by revealing that the movie’s famous pen scene was improvised. Scorsese is known for embracing improv from his actors, and Bernthal confirms that every take on The Wolf of Wall Street was unique, requiring everyone to stay immersed in the moment and always be ready for something new to contend with. The film’s “sell me this pen” motif, for example, came from a conversation between DiCaprio and his security detail as he walked to set:

A lot of times, people talk about that ‘sell me this pen’ scene, and I use it as a really good example of the way that Marty works. When Leo was walking to the set that day, his security was a New York City detective and he said he had a job interview with the real Jordan Belfort. And Leo said … ‘Really? What was the interview?’ And he said, ‘He handed me a pen and said sell that pen.’ So, Leo, he didn’t tell anybody. He just threw that into that scene. And everything was reactive off of that.

The scene comes at a crucial point early in the film, when DiCaprio’s Belfort is explaining his sales philosophy to his friends and challenges them to sell him a pen he pulls from his pocket. The exercise illustrates how Belfort’s job is based on the principle of convincing customers that he can solve a need they don’t actually have, a foundational lie that builds throughout the film to the point of life-ruining fraud. And, crucially, Scorsese brings the pen-selling setup back for The Wolf of Wall Street‘s final scene, when a post-incarceration Belfort gives a talk on sales psychology by going down the line of listeners and presenting each with the same basic challenge.

While many of the stories from the making of this film are interesting for their shock-factor, or simply as bits of trivia, Bernthal’s offers important insight into Scorsese’s creative process, and how an artist can incorporate happenstance into their overall vision. Rewatching the first scene in light of this revelation, DiCaprio’s use of improvisation is clear in the rhythm of his castmates’ reactions, putting the technique’s value as a character-building tool on display. But, that Scorsese can take this moment and amplify its meaning by returning to it in The Wolf of Wall Street‘s coda is a testament to his skill as a director, and evidence that auteurship and collaboration are not mutually exclusive.

Source: Hot Ones

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