The Hitchcock Lead: Leonardo DiCaprio

I don’t know how long it’s going to take for the film criticism community, and/or the Oscar voters or SAG to realize just what a great actor Leonardo DiCaprio really is. ¬†I feel safe in saying that 2010 will be one of his best years, with two stellar performances in the can. ¬†While watching Shutter Island (and another I can’t talk about) I was thinking that DiCaprio is not unlike the actors Alfred Hitchcock preferred working with. ¬†I put this question out to folks on Twitter and Facebook to see if they agreed. ¬†The consensus seemed to be that there were two Hitchcock male archetypes floating around out there: Leonardo DiCaprio and George Clooney. ¬†It’s hard to argue with either of those.

This isn’t to say that these are the two best actors working today, but that they are the two Hitchcock might have most preferred working with because of their specific qualities; Leo, for his vulnerability and toughness, and Clooney for his Cary Grant-like charm.

Jimmy Stewart was nominated five times, and won for A Philadelphia Story. ¬†What is more interesting, though, is what he wasn’t nominated for: Rear Window, Rope or Vertigo. ¬†That he wasn’t nominated for Vertigo is mind-boggling. ¬†Hilariously, Vertigo was only nominated for Sound and Art Directing.

He fared better than Cary Grant, however, who was only nominated for Penny Serenade and None But the Lonely Heart – not A Philadelphia Story, not Notorious. ¬†It could be argued that Grant was ignored because he “always played himself,” but perhaps there were other factors at play. ¬†Pretty boys weren’t the kind who won Oscars, not until they uglied themselves up adequately enough.

DiCaprio has already done better than Cary Grant, with two leading actor nominations and one supporting. ¬†He wasn’t nominated for Revolutionary Road, nor The Departed – which is, again, hilarious. ¬†He will likely be overlooked for Shutter Island, and perhaps Inception – but both will be looked upon as gross omissions as the years wear on.

George Clooney has had three Oscar nominations for acting and won one. ¬†So he’s way, way ahead of Cary Grant.

People on Twitter were much more interested in the concept of the Hitchcock blonde, rather than the Hitchcock leading male role.

A Hitchcock blonde needs to be uptown, sophisticated, pretty and with the slightest hint of a nasty side.  The other archetypes are, of course, the tramp with glasses, the geeky girl with glasses and the mother figure.  Maybe we should throw in the boring wife-to-be.

The actresses with the most potential (at this point in time, not twenty years ago, etc) were:

January Jones
Diane Kruger
Charlize Theron
Naomi Watts

A few other names were tossed around, like a young Nicole Kidman, Scarlett Johansson, Keira Knightley … maybe Reese Witherspoon. ¬†January Jones looks the part, but to my mind she just isn’t uptown enough to fill Grace Kelly’s shoes. ¬†Therefore, for my money, Charlize Theron is the best choice.