The Hocus Pocus Role Leonardo DiCaprio Turned Down (& Why)

Hocus Pocus has some big names among its main cast, and among those could have been Leonardo DiCaprio, but he ended up turning down a role in it. Although Disney is best known for its animated movies and for stories aimed at a young audience, it also has its collection of “spooky” content, though always following the studio’s line of family-friendly content. Among Disney’s most popular and beloved Halloween movies is Hocus Pocus, released in 1993 and directed by Kenny Ortega.

Set in Salem, Massachusetts, Hocus Pocus tells the story of the Sanderson Sisters – Winifred (Bette Midler), Sarah (Sarah Jessica Parker), and Mary (Kathy Najimy) –, who after draining the life force out of a little girl and cursing her brother to live forever as a black cat, are hanged, but not before Winifred cast a curse that will resurrect her and her sisters during a full moon on Halloween if a virgin lights the Black Candle at their cottage. Three centuries later, Max Dennison (Omri Katz) inadvertently resurrects the Sanderson Sisters, and so he, his sister Dani (Thora Birch), and his crush Allison (Vinessa Shaw) have to find a way to get rid of them before they drain the life force out of all the children in Salem so they can continue living.

Although Hocus Pocus was initially received with mixed reviews and didn’t do well at the box office, it has now become a cult classic, and after almost three decades, it finally got a sequel, simply titled Hocus Pocus 2. The original movie helped make its youngest stars known in the entertainment industry, and Leonardo DiCaprio was almost part of the fun, but he turned the role down in order to take another, very different one.

How Would Hocus Pocus Be Different With Leonardo DiCaprio?

Speaking to Variety in 2014, Leonardo DiCaprio shared that he was offered “more money than I ever dreamed of” to take a role in Hocus Pocus, which would have been that of Max Dennison. Even though the offer sounded tempting, DiCaprio decided to turn it down as he had set eyes on an indie project for which he hadn’t even auditioned yet: What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. DiCaprio recalled that he didn’t know where he got the nerve to turn such a big offer down, but he’s proud of “being a young man who was sticking to my guns”. DiCaprio’s decision turned out to be the right one, as he got the role of Arnie, the mentally impaired younger brother of the title Gilbert Grape (Johnny Depp), for which he was nominated for different awards, including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

As mentioned above, Hocus Pocus wasn’t well-received when it was released, with critics saying that it didn’t live up to the talents of its main cast and there was little progress in the story. Had Leonardo DiCaprio taken the role of Max, Hocus Pocus’ critical reception wouldn’t have changed much, except that there would have most likely been praise for DiCaprio’s performance. The problem with Hocus Pocus (according to critics) was its story and comedic style, which didn’t quite connect with most viewers, so even if DiCaprio had starred in it, not much would have changed. On the other hand, had DiCaprio played Max in Hocus Pocus, he wouldn’t have been able to star in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, which might have not opened as many doors to him as the movie did, but he surely would have still found a way to establish himself in the film industry. As for Hocus Pocus, time has been great to it, and it’s now considered a classic of Halloween season, which was bound to happen with or without Leonardo DiCaprio in the cast.