That's one way of describing Vladimir Putin.
Yes, the oft-shirtless, ex-KGB agent-turned-Russian President Vladimir Putin may not have Hollywood good-looks, but there's one actor's who's been very keen to play Vladimir Putin for quite some time now - Leonardo DiCaprio. Yes, really.
In a recent interview with German newspaper Welt Am Sonntag, DiCaprio talked about his surprisingly close relationship with Putin. "My foundation has provided financial support for several projects for the protection of these big cats," explained DiCaprio. "Putin and I talked only about the protection of these magnificent animals, not politics."
DiCaprio went on to say that he'd be interested in playing Putin in a film, calling him "very, very, very interesting." Putin reportedly called DiCaprio a 'muzhik', which is a sort of peasant originally - but now means 'a real man', apparently. Yeah, we've no idea either.
Of course, the likelihood is that there won't be any film made of Putin in the near future. Putin was the subject of an hour-long documentary on Russian television where a Russian archbishop narrated the whole thing and purported to cast the Russian president as the country's saviour. Yeah.
There has been talk that Ben Mezrich's latest book about Russian oligarchs, Once Upon A Time In Russia, could be adapted into a screenplay. Mezrich wrote The Social Network, which was adapted by Aaron Sorkin and turned into the David Fincher film with Jesse Eisenberg starring as Mark Zuckerberg. Putin apparently does play a role in Mezrich's book, so there's a possibility DiCaprio could get a role there.
Again, don't expect this to happen any time soon. DiCaprio's next film is with Martin Scorsese about America's first serial killer, H.H Holmes. That film, entitled The Devil In The White City, is scheduled for a 2017 release.
Via Welt Am Sonntag
