Quentin Tarantino Says Leonardo DiCaprio's Character in ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD Is Bipolar

Director Quentin Tarantino recently revealed a new detail about Leonardo DiCaprio’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood character, Rick Dalton. In a video interview with Vanity Fair, Tarantino and DiCaprio discussed the mental state of Rick Dalton saying that he is bipolar and that the real-life inspiration behind the character and that mental condition was actor Pete Duel.

Duel starred in a 1970s Western series called Alias Smith and Jones, and he ended up committing suicide in 1971. While researching the actor, Tarantino learned he had “a drinking problem due to self-medicating his apparent undiagnosed bipolar disorder.” This is an element that was added to the character Rick.

Knowing this adds a whole new layer to Rick, his issues, his attitude, his mood swings, and how he acts throughout the film. From my own personal experience, I thought that Rick might be bipolar, especially with that scene where he has a complete mental breakdown in his trailer. But with Tarantino and the characters he creates, I wasn’t 100% sure.

Rick being bipolar was not mentioned in the film, and the character himself is unaware that he even has it. Tarantino went on to say:

“Now, we already had Rick a drinker, but the whole thing about undiagnosed bipolar and not knowing how that works, and the weird pendulum swings of emotion you would have … that became a really interesting thing that we thought Rick could deal through. And that gave Leo a good, solid ground in which to work and build a character and have a subtext going on inside of scenes that don’t have to revolve around the story of the scene.”

While Rick’s condition was never really pushed on the audience, it was clear that the character was dealing with a lot of issues. This new detail regarding the character adds a whole new depth to the character and knowing it gives me a better understanding now of what he was really going through as his story arc progressed.