Wednesday, August 13, 2025 |
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What you're about to see below is an Esquire project that required months of work and coordination. We paired Leonardo DiCaprio with the writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson to create a cover story for Esquire. You might learn more about both men than you ever have before. A conversation about movies blooms into a story about DiCaprio's father. The topic of a recently deceased assistant director reveals the actor's lack of desire to direct. A tossed-off question about age allows DiCaprio to reflect on having recently turned 50. Like most male friendships, they talk shit, bust each other's balls, and, between the lines, speak volumes about themselves. I hope you enjoy it. – Michael Sebastian, editor-in-chief Plus: |
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How do you get the actor talking? Put him in a room with Paul Thomas Anderson. During hours of conversation, two era-defining men—on the record together for the first time—went deep. They cracked some jokes, too. |
A Leonardo DiCaprio performance is always an intense experience: Howard Hughes losing his mind, Jordan Belfort debasing himself, Hugh Glass surviving against all odds. We are watching one of Hollywood's greatest of all time at work. One Battle After Another is Paul Thomas Anderson's first film with DiCaprio. Both men rarely give interviews, and their life and work are the subject of bottomless curiosity and speculation. This summer, they had two conversations: one in Leo's kitchen, another over the phone. They recorded their talks and gave the transcripts to Esquire, which we edited and condensed. (Anderson also photographed DiCaprio for us in Los Angeles.) The result is a rare glimpse into the minds of two of Hollywood's most daring and original men. |
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They don't follow formulas. They don't ask for permission. And they sure as hell don't follow anyone else's lead. In an industry built on franchises and focus groups, the Mavericks of Hollywood are those who push the boundaries of creativity—the Cuban-Dominican kid from Miami who reinvigorated SNL with viral humor, the talk-show host willing to eat an astounding number of hot wings, and the high school dropout who became one of the world's biggest stars. These are the outliers, the iconoclasts, the ones bending the system to their will. They're an inspiration, and a helluva lot of fun to watch. |
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You might have heard of Ice Shaker before. It was founded by ex-NFL player Chris Gronkowski, of the Gronkowski clan. After retirement, the middle Gronk was fed up with subpar water bottles, most of which failed to keep up with his workouts in sweltering Texas. After formulating his take on the insulated bottle, Gronkowski founded Ice Shaker and brought it to Mark Cuban and the other sharks in a season 9 episode of Shark Tank. Gronkowski's pitch for Ice Shaker was that the bottles were "double-walled vacuum insulated shaker bottle" that can "hold ice for 30 hours in a 75-degree room." Honestly, I don't know if that is true. But I do know it keeps drinks cool for as long as you need, based on the times I've left mine half-full in my car on humid August afternoons. It does what it says on the box, and it does it well. But it also go a few steps beyond that. Between its masculine-yet-minimalist aesthetics, simple design principles, and tank-like builds, the Ice Shaker is the alpha and omega of gym water bottles. |
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