Leonardo DiCaprio achieved the Superstar status over two decades ago and has managed to keep with him all this while and continues to do so. Not just one of the sought-after actors, he is also amongst the highest paid ones and his net worth is the proof. But while all his fiction dramas and character have garnered love, did you know the Hollywood fame almost voiced Ash in Pokémon: The First Movie back in 1998?
Yes, you read that right. Released in the year 1998, the originally Japanese language movie was the first theatrical Pokémon movie ever across the globe. The makers decided to dub the movie in English as well and Norman Grossfeld was named the incharge. While the English dub was planned with all new voice actors, Leo came up.
While they were shaping the English version of Pokémon: The First Movie, one studio pitched the idea of bringing in Leonardo DiCaprio to voice Ash. The studio was even adamant about bringing him on board. But later decided to not go ahead. Read on to know everything you should about the same.
As per Screenrant, The Big Hit Show podcast host, Alex Pappademas revealed this bit of information where he spoke about Leonardo DiCaprio almost voiced Ash in Pokémon: The First Movie. “Whether he [DiCaprio] could have been enticed to play Ash in this movie is unclear, but either way it wouldn’t have mattered because Norman says he said no to DiCaprio in that meeting. Because, as Norman saw it, having somebody else do the voice would have been weird for the kids who’d grown accustomed to Ash sounding the way he did in the show,” he said.
Alex added, “Pokémon had become so big so quickly that the addition of Leonardo DiCaprio–a person you generally want involved in a movie if you’re making one, and he’s available– would have taken away from it. Norman ended up making a distribution deal with Warner Bros.”
This was the year 1998 when Leonardo DiCaprio was just out of the cult classic Titanic in 1997. The film that starred him with Kate Winslet went to create a thunder both in terms of Box Office and critical acclaim. So if the actor would have voiced Ash, the stakes could have been even higher for the Pokémon franchise.
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