LEONARDO DICAPRIO We had a screening of a multitude of B films that I had never heard of, a lot of 1960s television with actors like Ralph Meeker and Ty Hardin. These guys could have been McQueen-esque, but didn’t make the transition from black and white television, especially westerns, to career-makers like “The Great Escape.” So it was almost like a love story to them. Did they get that one opportunity? No, that may have passed them by. So let’s start talking about your character, what he might have been, what he’s struggling with as a working-class guy in the industry who has been playing the heavy from television show to television show. What that does to his psyche and his confidence?

PITT I [remember] a lot of that television. In fact [Tarantino] reminded me of much of it that I had forgotten. We did watch “Billy Jack,” some Tom Laughlin, just for fun. We were pretty much weaned on the same television and film. We talked a lot about the stuntman-actor relationship. I got to meet Bud Ekins, who was Steve McQueen’s. This was a legendary relationship. He did the jump for “The Great Escape,” got Steve McQueen into motorcycles. And, then, Burt Reynolds and Hal Needham. We got to talk to Burt. Originally he was going to play George Spahn. We had rehearsals before he passed. I was surprised what a joy that was and how giving he was, and I was really moved by it. But then I realized that so much of my childhood was watching Burt Reynolds — he was the biggest thing around in the late 1970s.

DARGIS Did you two hang out so you could develop your flow together?

DICAPRIO You come to Hollywood and you’re basically isolated and left to your own devices. [Rick and Cliff] rely on this friendship for everything. We immediately fell into those shoes. We understood that relationship [laughs] so quickly that on the first day, we were those guys.

PITT It was pretty automatic. We both came on the scene around the same time, we have crossed paths many times, we have the same reference points. I’ve always felt that you don’t understand the deal you’re making when suddenly you’re that lone gazelle on the plain and the herd’s gone, so to speak. And, you know, my friend here [he gestures toward DiCaprio] has been the same. So there’s automatic comfort in having experienced the same thing in that way. That’s not a complaint in any way, I say that merely as fact. We have mutual respect and I know when an actor elevates a scene, so we carry that respect.