‘Bitter' Corey Feldman claims Johnny Depp cost him ‘What's Eating Gilbert Grape' role by telling producers he was a ‘junkie'
This has been eating Corey Feldman up for a long time.
The actor, 53, appeared on Billy Corgan's 'The Magnificent Others' podcast this week and claimed he was originally set to star alongside Johnny Depp in 1993's 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape' — but Depp, 61, allegedly sabotaged his opportunity.
'I was actually cast to play Leonardo DiCaprio's role,' Feldman shared. 'I never saw the film because I'm still bitter. Bitter leaf in that one. But yes, I was originally cast for that role.'
'Did they push you out?' Corgan, 58, asked.
'Johnny Depp,' Feldman said. 'He was cast after I was, and apparently whispered into the producers' ear that he wasn't fond of me.'
Feldman claimed of Depp, 'He said that I was a junkie and that he didn't work with junkies. And this is the first time I've ever telling this story, so I'm sure I'm gonna get hung by this one.'
As a young actor, Feldman dealt with alcohol and drug abuse. He previously said his addiction started from being sexually abused in Hollywood. Feldman spent 10 months in rehab for his heroin addiction.
In 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape,' the coming-of-age drama directed by Lasse Hallström, Depp plays a grocery store clerk who cares for his family, including his disabled younger brother Arnie (DiCaprio). The film also stars Juliette Lewis, Mary Steenburgen, John C. Reilly and Darlene Cates.
Feldman said on the podcast that, despite Depp's alleged claims to producers, he 'was sober' when he was up for the role of Arnie.
'I had just gotten sober. I had just turned my life around,' he insisted. 'And in fact, [I] was trying to help River [Phoenix] at the time, who he was running with at the time. As we all know, River's last night on Earth was at Johnny's establishment.'
Phoenix, who struggled with addiction, overdosed at Depp's LA nightclub, the Viper Room, on Halloween in 1993. He was 23 years old.
'So as you can imagine, there was a bit of a thorn in the side on that one,' Feldman continued. 'And, had I not been pushed out and done that role, who knows what would have happened from that point forward.'
Feldman noted that 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape' scored DiCaprio, 50, his first Oscar nomination in his career.
'There was a bitter tea there,' Feldman added about allegedly being cut from the film, 'but that said, you don't hang on those, you get past 'em.'
The Post has reached out to Depp's rep for comment.
Feldman went on to reveal that he and DiCaprio faced off for another movie role not long after 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape.'
'Ironically, just a couple years later, I also was up for 'Titanic', so there was kind of a double banger with Leo,' he said to Corgan.
'But that was OK, because that one I wasn't as close,' he admitted. 'I was up for it, I read for it, I know that I was in the contention somewhere.'
Feldman said he was also in the mix to play Samwise Gamgee in 'The Lord of the Rings,' but the job ultimately went to his 'Goonies' co-star Sean Astin.
'I was actually up for Sean's role, and I heard I got pretty close on that as well,' he recalled. 'Although I couldn't have gained the weight, so I'll give him that. He did a great job aesthetically being able to add that weight. It's something I cannot physically do.'
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