Leonardo Dicaprio may still be nursing his wounds from his failure to win his first Best Actor Oscar for his scenery-chewing performance in The Wolf of Wall Street , and the sting has to be made worse by the fact that the award went to Matthew McConaughey — who co-starred with DiCaprio in Wolf of Wall Street , but won for his tour-de-force lead role in Dallas Buyers Club .
According to reports, when the two Hollywood heavyweights were sharing the set during the Wolf of Wall Street shoot, Leonardo DiCaprio got fed up with McConaughey’s self-righteous preaching and life advice. Eventually, the notorious playboy and 39-year-old bachelor, began to avoid the self-important McConaughey altogether, unless they had a scene to shoot together.
The report comes from the March 24 print edition of the gossip rag Globe Magazine , so who knows how true it really is. But given McConaughey’s self-congratulatory Oscar acceptance speech, the story of Leonardo DiCaprio’s annoyance with his 44-year-old co-star seems at least plausible.
According to the report, McConaughey — who may add an Emmy for his performance in HBO’s True Detective to his Oscar for Dallas Buyer’s Club — was so intent on sharing with DiCaprio the secrets of his own supremely happy and successful existence that the younger actor, who leaped to stardom 17 years ago in Titanic, simply got fed up.
But maybe Leonardo DiCaprio should have listened more closely. It is no secret that Dicaprio coveted the Oscar that ended up in the hands of his supposed rival. And one of the McConaughey principles stated in his acceptance speech and therefore, most likely on the Wolf of Wall Street set to Leonardo as well, is that “ it’s a scientific fact that gratitude reciprocates. ”
In other words, if you feel genuine gratitude toward others, you will receive good experiences in return.
Sounds a bit like New Age mumbo-jumbo, but as it turns out, it’s also true.
“A decade of research has defined gratitude as a social emotion that, while related to empathy, is nonetheless distinct from it, wrote science journalist Chris Mooney recently. “Feeling gratitude helps bind us to our groups and communities and enhances social relationships.”
Mooney wrote there is a “payoff” for the conscious cultivation of grateful emotions.
“The research suggests more hope and optimism, a better ability to manage stress, a tendency to exercise more and even sleeping better,” he wrote.
All of which makes a person better able to manage life and therefore, more able to achieve goals.
So maybe, if there is a “next time” that Leonardo DiCaprio and Matthew McConaughey are on a movie set together, Leo might want to play closer attention.
