Leonardo DiCaprio Owes Sharon Stone His Role In ‘The Quick And The Dead,’ Reveals She Paid His Salary To Cast Him: “I Cannot Thank Her Enough”

Leonardo DiCaprio looked back on his time working with Sharon Stone on the 1995 western The Quick and the Dead, a role that he says he nearly missed out on.

Speaking to E! News, DiCaprio revealed that the actress paid his salary so that he could star in the movie after the studio refused to cast him. Stone was both the star and co-producer of the film, and was insistent on working with DiCaprio.

“I’ve thanked her many times,” he said. “I don’t know if I sent her an actual, physical thank you gift, but I cannot thank her enough.”

DiCaprio said Stone wanted to work with him and Russell Crowe on the film after seeing their respective recent works. At the time, DiCaprio was fresh off the success of his breakout performance in the 1993 movie What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, while Russell Crowe recently starred in Romper Stomper.

“She said, ‘These are the two actors I want to work with,'” he recalled. “It’s incredible. She’s been a huge champion of cinema and giving other actors opportunities, so I’m very thankful.”

Stone explained in her 2021 memoir The Beauty of Living Twice why she felt like DiCaprio was the person for the role.

“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, according to an excerpt published by Insider.

She recalled the studio asked her, “Why an unknown, Sharon, why are you always shooting yourself in the foot?’”

“The studio said if I wanted him so much, I could pay him out of my own salary. So I did,” she said.

Speaking to E! News, DiCaprio confirmed that Stone “did that with myself and Russell Crowe at the time.”

Starring in The Quick and the Dead was just the leg-up DiCaprio needed. Just one year later, he catapulted to fame with James Cameron‘s Titanic.