Can you picture Leonardo DiCaprio as axe-wielding psycho Patrick Bateman? For a minute there, it almost happened.

Producer Ed Pressman told THR that after "Titanic" made Leo a huge star, he was sent the script for "American Psycho," and he wanted to do it.

"But [director] Mary Harron told me: 'Leo will never do the movie,' so wait it out. She was right."

Instead, they went with Christian Bale, "who wasn't yet a big star, wanted to do it," Pressman recalled. That worked out pretty well, with the film helping cement Bale's status as one of the best actors of his generation.

Leo went on to make "The Beach" instead, which earned him his first and only Razzie nomination. Oops.

[Via: THR]