Corey Feldman is still ‘bitter’ over losing a plum part in Lᴀsse Hallström’s 1993 film What’s Eating Gilbert Grape and he put the blame entirely on Johnny Depp.

The 53-year-old eighties icon – who was emancipated by age 15 – enjoyed quite a successful streak starring in blockbusters like Gremlins (1984), The Goonies (1985), Stand by Me (1986), and The Lost Boys (1987).

Corey claimed he had already been cast as intellectually-disabled 17-year-old Arnold ‘Arnie’ Grape in the coming-of-age drama about a dysfunctional Iowa family, but the 61-year-old Oscar nominee (who played the тιтular role) put a stop to that.

‘I was actually cast to play Leonardo DiCaprio’s role. I never saw the film because I’m still bitter. Bitter leaf in that one. But yes, I was originally cast for that role,’ Feldman told The Magnificent Others podcast on Wednesday.

Host Billy Corgan asked: ‘Did they push you out?’

‘Johnny Depp,’ the former child star responded.

Corey Feldman is still ‘bitter’ over losing a plum part in Lᴀsse Hallström’s 1993 film What’s Eating Gilbert Grape and he put the blame entirely on Johnny Depp

‘He was cast after I was, and apparently whispered into the producers’ ear that he wasn’t fond of me, and thought — he said that I was a junkie and that he didn’t work with junkies. And this is the first time I’ve ever [told] this story, so I’m sure I’m gonna get hung by this one.’

Corey – who was 21 at the time – had completed a 10-month rehab stint for heroin addiction one year earlier, which he blamed on alleged childhood abuse by his mother Sheila and alleged Sєxual abuse by Hollywood figures like agent Marty Weiss.

‘I was sober. I had just gotten sober,’ Feldman stressed.

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‘I had just gotten out of rehab. I had turned my life around, and, in fact, was trying to help River [Phoenix] at the time, who [Johnny] was running with at the time, as we all know.’

Feldman continued: ‘As you can imagine, there was a bit of a thorn in the side on that one. And, had I not been pushed out and done that role, who knows what would have happened from that point forward.’

Leonardo was 18 at the time and his performance as the aquaphobic teen, who has a habit of climbing, wound up being the most decorated of the entire cast and crew – scoring nominations for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for best supporting actor.

‘The film’s real show-stopping turn comes from Mr. DiCaprio, who makes Arnie’s many tics so startling and vivid that at first he is difficult to watch,’ New York Times film critic Janet Maslin wrote at the time.

‘The performance has a sharp, desperate intensity from beginning to end.’

Despite critical acclaim, the big-screen adaptation of Peter Hedges’ 1991 novel bombed at the box office ($10M gross after an $11M budget), but it did better on video.

The 53-year-old eighties icon – who was emancipated by age 15 – enjoyed quite a successful streak starring in blockbusters like Gremlins (1984), The Goonies (pictured, 1985), Stand by Me (1986), and The Lost Boys (1987) 

Corey claimed he had already been cast as intellectually-disabled 17-year-old Arnold ‘Arnie’ Grape (L) in the coming-of-age drama about a dysfunctional Iowa family, but the 61-year-old Oscar nominee (R, who played the тιтular role) put a stop to that

Feldman told The Magnificent Others podcast on Wednesday: ‘He was cast after I was, and apparently whispered into the producers’ ear that he wasn’t fond of me, and thought — he said that I was a junkie and that he didn’t work with junkies. And this is the first time I’ve ever [told] this story, so I’m sure I’m gonna get hung by this one’ (Johnny pictured in 1992)  

The former child star – who was 21 at the time – had completed a 10-month rehab stint for heroin addiction one year earlier, which he blamed on alleged childhood abuse by his mother Sheila and alleged Sєxual abuse by Hollywood figures like agent Marty Weiss

Corey stressed: ‘I was sober. I had just gotten sober. I had just gotten out of rehab. I had turned my life around, and, in fact, was trying to help River [Phoenix] at the time, who [Johnny] was running with at the time, as we all know’

Feldman continued: ‘As you can imagine, there was a bit of a thorn in the side on that one. And, had I not been pushed out and done that role, who knows what would have happened from that point forward’

Leonardo was 18 at the time and his performance as the aquaphobic teen, who has a habit of climbing, wound up being the most decorated of the entire cast and crew – scoring nominations for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for best supporting actor

NY Times film critic Janet Maslin wrote at the time: ‘The film’s real show-stopping turn comes from Mr. DiCaprio, who makes Arnie’s many tics so startling and vivid that at first he is difficult to watch. The performance has a sharp, desperate intensity from beginning to end’

Despite critical acclaim, the big-screen adaptation of Peter Hedges’ 1991 novel bombed at the box office ($10M gross after an $11M budget), but it did better on video

The Without U singer’s last onscreen gig was being the Seal in the 11th season of Fox celebrity singing compeтιтion The Masked Singer where he made it nine episodes before being eliminated (pictured in 2024)

The What’s Eating Gilbert Grape ensemble cast also included Juliette Lewis, Mary Steenburgen, John C. Reilly, Crispin Glover, Laura Harrington, Mary Kate Schellhardt, and Darlene Cates.

Instead, Corey played a young cop in National Lampoon’s Loaded Weapon 1 and reprised his voiceover role as Donatello in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III in 1993.

‘There was a bitter tea there, but that said, you don’t hang on those, you get past them,’ Feldman remarked.

‘Ironically, just a couple years later, I also was up for тιтanic, so there was kind of a double banger with Leo. But that was okay, because that one I wasn’t as close. I was up for it, I read for it, I know that I was in the contention somewhere.’

Years later, the Without U singer auditioned for his former castmate Sean Astin’s role of Samwise Gamgee in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

‘I heard I got pretty close on that as well,’ Corey claimed.

‘Although I couldn’t have gained the weight, so I’ll give him that. He did a great job aesthetically being able to add that weight. It’s something I cannot physically do.’

Feldman’s last onscreen gig was being the Seal in the 11th season of Fox celebrity singing compeтιтion The Masked Singer a year ago where he made it nine episodes before being eliminated.

In 2018, the Going Viral actor denied a slew of Sєxual harᴀssment accusations from his former Corey’s Angels band members Jacqueline Von Rueden, Poeina Suddarth, Margot Lane, Chantal Knippenburg, Amy Clark, Mara Moon, Jezebel Sweet, and Krystal Khali.