What's Eating Gilbert Grape
Short description
Gilbert Grape is a young man living in Endora, a small town in Iowa, where he has taken on the role of head of the family since his father's death. He looks after his younger brother Arnie, who has a mental disability and a talent for getting into trouble, as well as his mother, whose weight keeps her confined to the house, and his two sisters. Gilbert works at a local grocery store and carries on an affair with a married woman, Betty Carver. His routine is disrupted by the arrival of Becky, a free-spirited young woman from Michigan who is passing through town.
The film was directed by Lasse Hallström, the third of the twenty features he has directed in chronological order, following My Life as a Dog and preceding Something to Talk About. Peter Hedges wrote the screenplay, and the cast includes Johnny Depp as Gilbert, Leonardo DiCaprio as Arnie, Juliette Lewis as Becky, Mary Steenburgen as Betty Carver and Darlene Cates as Momma, with around thirty credited cast members and fifty credited crew.
What's Eating Gilbert Grape was released in December 1993 and runs 118 minutes. Made on a budget of about eleven million dollars, it took roughly ten million at the worldwide box office. On IMDb it holds 7.7 out of 10 from around 269,000 votes, and on TMDB 7.7 out of 10 from some 4,400 votes, while a critics' rating stands at 7.8 out of 10 from 51 reviews.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film is based on Peter Hedges' novel "What's Eating Gilbert Grape?" (1991).
- Depp personally chose Leonardo DiCaprio for the role of his brother from among many young applicants.
- To more accurately portray a mentally challenged character, Leonardo DiCaprio spent several days in a psychiatric clinic with children suffering from the same condition.
- Darleen Kate, who played the mother of the main characters, had not appeared in films before this one. Lasse Hallström invited her after seeing her in a talk show dedicated to obesity.
- Johnny Depp was very worried that the plot required him to say a lot of nasty things to “Mom,” played by Darlene Cates. Therefore, he constantly apologized to her after filming ended.
- The photograph of the young Mrs. Grape is a true photograph of Darlene Cates in her youth.
- During the filming of the movie, Johnny Depp was in a prolonged depression – he was going through a high-profile breakup with actress Winona Ryder.
- Director Lasse Hallström initially considered DiCaprio too handsome for the role of the unkempt Arnie, so Leo had to deliberately 'uglify' himself for the role. He got a bowl cut and wore a special dental prosthesis that distorted his mouth line.
- Due to the role of Arnie, Leonardo DiCaprio turned down a role in the comedy 'Hocus Pocus' (1993), for which he was promised a much larger fee.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
