Leonardo DiCaprio remains thankful Sharon Stone paid his salary

Leonardo DiCaprio can’t thank Sharon Stone enough for paying his salary on Sam Raimi’s The Quick and the Dead.

Leonardo DiCaprio has become one of our finest actors, but thirty years ago, he was an unknown who found his salary paid by Sharon Stone after the studio refused to hire him.

Leonardo DiCaprio had auditioned for the role of The Kid in Sam Raimi’s The Quick and the Dead, and when the studio rejected him, Sharon Stone was adamant that he was perfect for the role. When the studio countered that she should pay him herself if she really wanted him… she did, and it’s a choice DiCaprio remains thankful for all these years later. “I’ve thanked her many times,” DiCaprio told E! News. “I don’t know if I sent her an actual, physical thank you gift, but I cannot thank her enough… She said, ‘These are the two actors [DiCaprio & Russell Crowe] I want to work with. It’s incredible. She’s been a huge champion of cinema and giving other actors opportunities, so I’m very thankful.“

Sharon Stone revealed how she paid Leonardo DiCaprio’s salary in her 2021 memoir, The Beauty of Living Twice (via Insider). “This kid named Leonardo DiCaprio was the only one who nailed the audition,” Stone wrote. “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.” However, TriStar Pictures wasn’t keen on DiCaprio. “‘Why an unknown, Sharon, why are you always shooting yourself in the foot?’” Stone said of the studio’s reply. “The studio said if I wanted him so much, I could pay him out of my own salary. So I did.“

A month after The Quick and the Dead started shooting, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape was released in theaters, a film which earned Leonardo DiCaprio an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. I would imagine that TriStar Pictures was suddenly very appreciative that Stone went to bat for DiCaprio.

The Quick and the Dead starred Sharon Stone as The Lady, a gunfighter who joins a deadly dueling competition in Redemption, a frontier town controlled by ruthless outlaw John Herold. In addition to Stone and DiCaprio, the film also starred Russell Crowe, Gene Hackman, Lance Henriksen, Keith David, and more.