Xavier Dolan Shares the Fan Letter He Wrote Leonardo DiCaprio When He Was 8 Years Old — TIFF

Xavier Dolan‘s new movie, “The Death and Life of John F. Donovan,” tells the story of a young boy who begins a correspondence with a famous actor, which is something the writer-director-actor clearly knows a thing or two about. Before world premiering the movie at the Toronto International Film Festival, Dolan took the stage to read a fan letter he personally wrote to Leonardo DiCaprio when he was eight years old.

“Dear Leonardo, My name is Xavier Dolan-Tadros. I go to school, I love school. I am eight years old. March 20, I’ll be nine. I am one of your fans,” Dolan wrote the actor. “I watched the movie ‘Titanic’ five times. You play very well. You are a great actor and I admire you.”

Eight-year-old Dolan went on to tell DiCaprio that he was also an actor and that there paths would cross should DiCaprio ever come make a movie in Montreal. Dolan said he was sure the actor would eventually come to Montreal to make a movie since it’s a “very popular site for filming.”

“John F. Donovan” marks Dolan’s English-langague debut and features a star-studded ensemble that includes Jacob Tremblay, Kit Harington, Natalie Portman, Susan Sarandon, and Kathy Bates. You can read Dolan’s letter in its entirety in the TIFF post below.

Xavier Dolan introduced THE DEATH AND LIFE OF JOHN F. DONOVAN at #TIFF18 by reading a letter he wrote at the age of 9 to Leonardo DiCaprio.

Eat your heart out, internet: pic.twitter.com/SoLmyK8wge

— TIFF (@TIFF_NET) September 11, 2018