Leonardo DiCaprio Talks Packing On The Pounds For ‘J. Edgar’

Leonardo DiCaprio packed on some pounds to play J. Edgar Hoover in the November 9-due “J. Edgar,” but not as many as he would have liked.

“As much as I possibly could,” he told Access Hollywood on the red carpet at the “J. Edgar” gala at the AFI Fest in Los Angeles on Thursday night, of his efforts to transform into the movie version of the historical figure.

“I really wanted to take a break and do the whole real physical transformation. Of course, the film wouldn’t allow it,” Leo added of stepping into the shoes of legendary historical figure and FBI boss, J. Edgar Hoover. “It was a massive amount of weight to put on in a very short amount of time. So thankfully I had a lot of people around to help me in that transformation and I think it turned out pretty well.”

Leo felt playing the controversial man was a true honor.

“It was an honor to be able to play a character that had so many different eccentricities, somebody that was in power in our country for over 50 years, through eight different presidents, who was in the underground of shaping the country that we know today,” the actor told Access.

“I didn’t agree with a lot of his politics, especially later on in his career. But certainly the world he came into, he transformed our country. He created a Federal Bureau of Investigation, and a police force that we’ve never seen before,” Leo continued. “He was a true patriot in that sense. But, like I said, I don’t believe what he did later in his life was extremely commendable. Let’s put it that way.”

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