January 13, 2024 – 6:35 AM EST
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The unusual relationship of a married couple in historical drama “Killers of the Flower Moon” could have been left as just a small part of the Martin Scorsese movie about a dark time in American history.
Star and executive producer Leonardo DiCaprio said that he alongside fellow producers decided to center the film around the “twisted” but true love story of Ernest Burkhart, a white man, and Mollie, the Osage woman that he married, to help drive home the human toll.
“When we made the shift to making Ernest and Mollie the centerpieces of the story … it seemed like a dynamic shift,” DiCaprio, who plays Ernest, told Reuters.
“We flipped the whole story on its head,” the Oscar winner added. “We got to not only explore this very twisted relationship, we got to explore the Osage and the Osage community and how they were affected by all of this.”
“Killers of the Flower Moon” debuted in cinemas in October and just began streaming on Apple TV+ (AAPL.O).
In the film, DiCaprio’s Ernest gets caught up with the machinations of his Uncle William (Robert De Niro). As part of his uncle’s plans, Ernest begins poisoning his wife, Mollie (Lily Gladstone), while also acting as her nurse and protector.
Producers listened to input from Osage members, including descendants from that era, and often changed narratives based on their opinions, DiCaprio said.
“The Osage community really they talked in great detail about that relationship, and even though it was an incredibly bizarre, twisted love story, there was love between them,” DiCaprio said.
Reporting by Rollo Ross; Writing by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Jacqueline Wong