Shahid Kapoor credits Leonardo DiCaprio for shaping his role-selection mindset, ‘I read a very interesting..’

Shahid Kapoor, the actor celebrated for redefining genres with performances in films like ‘Haider’, ‘Udta Punjab’, ‘Kabir Singh’, and ‘Farzi’, recently spoke about the philosophy that influences his choice of roles. In a recent interview, he revealed how a perspective shared by Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio helped reshape his own approach to selecting characters.

Shahid Kapoor inspired by Leonardo DiCaprio’s approach

In a conversation on Prakhar Ke Pravachan, “I read a very interesting interview of Leonardo DiCaprio where he said if ‘I read a script for the first time and when I know what’s to be done with the character I say no, because it’s within my comfort zone, when I don’t know what to do is when I am interested’, I found it very interesting that it must be outside your comfort zone. Sometimes I’m able to do it, sometimes may be I’m not but that’s an inherent desire to be able to climb a new peak and not to go back climbing same peak because I can climb it, its about exploration and that fear of the unknown."

Shahid Kapoor applies his philosophy to ‘O’ Romeo’

The actor also explained how this philosophy is reflected in his upcoming film ‘O' Romeo’, directed by Vishal Bhardwaj. Shahid shared, “With Vishal sir it’s always a journey, having said that you have to find and look ways to doing something new because what’s written is written by the writer what is written differently if I perform it the way I always perform it will seem different as fundamentally it’s written differently so you’ll receive it as a story first which also happens with a lot of actors that they do similar actors and do different stories across different genres so they look like they’re doing different work. But there are actors who’ll take the same genre and then do it differently and that’s actually your craft as you’re bringing something new to it – which is very exciting and interesting."

Shahid Kapoor praises co-star Triptii Dimri

Praising his ‘O’ Romeo’ co-star Triptii Dimri, Shahid highlighted how integral her role is to the film’s narrative. He admired her dedication and passion for bringing depth to her character. He said, “She is a very good actress, and her character is quite strong. I’m saying this honestly the girl’s role in this film is very strong. She has got a very good opportunity, and she has worked very hard. She has put her whole heart into it. I really enjoyed working with her. This is the first time our pairing has come together in a film, and I’m eagerly waiting to see how the audience accepts her character."Get the latest entertainment updates from the Times of India, along with the latest Hindi movies, upcoming Hindi movies in 2026 , and Telugu movies.”