Zwick goes on to note that DiCaprio’s portrayal of Danny Archer, a soldier turned soldier of fortune, fits squarely in the tradition of classic movie anti-heroes, “where great actors have been willing to go to a very dark place in service of a role. To see Leonardo DiCaprio take on that challenge was thrilling for me.”

DiCaprio acknowledges that Archer’s principles have been corrupted by the violence and greed that have plagued his homeland. “He has certainly become jaded,” the actor attests. “He has a cynical view of the world; he looks at the continent of Africa not as his home but as a place where people take advantage of one another. There is no real right or wrong…it’s only about survival.”

“Archer is cut off from feeling and has lost himself in the process,” Zwick observes. “He has exhausted his options; he has seen things and done things that he doesn’t want to admit even to himself, and now he just wants to get out.”

“That’s why the diamond doesn’t just represent money to him; it means his freedom and escape from his past,” adds DiCaprio. “But as the story progresses and he is confronted by Maddy’s idealism and Solomon’s courage, Archer begins battling his own morality—what he’s done with his life and what he is doing now.”

“Leo was ferocious in his commitment to his role,” Zwick states. “He has this uncanny ability to completely inhabit the character, a willingness to go all the way. He hung out with ex-mercenaries, NGO workers and former soldiers and spent hours just listening to people talk. He finally reached a point where he could improvise even in the dialect. But what emanated from him was not just the language; it was the essence of Danny Archer.”

“To me, Leo is one of the finest actors of our time,” Paula Weinstein declares, “not just in the way he speaks his lines but in what he is able to express without a single word. An emotion can simply cross his face and you know what he is feeling. Every day on the set, he was professional and committed and curious and present, and I was in constant awe of what he brought to his role.”

Gillian Gorfil adds that she was equally in awe of DiCaprio’s aptitude for the regional dialect. “Leo took on the challenge of speaking in an authentic southern African accent, which is extremely difficult to master. I think what he achieved was astounding. There were times when, if I closed my eyes, I would have mistaken him for one of the members of the local crew. He even started saying ‘howzit’—the local slang for ‘hello, how are you?’—as a greeting.”