Leonardo DiCaprio: Vladimir Putin is the Role He’d Love, ‘Revenant’ Star as Russian President?

Fresh off his Oscar nomination for The Revenant, actor Leonardo DiCaprio made mention of a role he would love to play in the future. Ironically, much like his most recent film, it would involve a bear reference in a cold climate. The reference and climate being that of Russia and the role being that country's president, Vladimir Putin.

In an interview with the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag, the 41-year-old two-time Golden Globe winner admitted, "Putin would be very, very, very interesting, I would love to play him." DiCaprio, who has two Russian grandparents, stressed interest in that country's history by adding "Lenin, too, would be an interesting film role. I would [like] to play Rasputin too. I believe that there should be more movies about Russian history. Russia unites so many stories almost of Shakespearean character. For an actor, it's extremely exciting."

Interestingly, DiCaprio actually met Putin at a 2010 summit in St. Petersburg for the protection of endangered Siberian tigers. "My foundation has provided financial support for several projects for the protection of these big cats. Putin and I talked only about the protection of these magnificent animals, not politics," claimed The Great Gatsby title character. .

The Russian leader, who has been famously photographed shirtless, called the actor a "muzhik"—meaning "real man"—in reference to the fact that he had several flight delays before landing in Russia. "I would like to thank you for coming despite all the obstacles." said the prime minister at the time. "A person with less stable nerves could have decided against coming, could have read it as a sign – that it was not worth going."

The Inception star has a long track record for playing famous men including J. Edgar Hoover in Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar as well as Howard Hughes in The Aviator and Jordan Belfort in The Wolf of Wall Street, both directed by Martin Scorcese.