Why David Hasselhoff Wouldn't Let Leonardo DiCaprio Star In Baywatch
These days, Leonardo DiCaprio is an actor who's a household name and boasts an expansive and iconic filmography. Once upon a time, though, he was an aspiring performer trying to join the cast of "Baywatch," the hit series about lifeguards who save beachgoers from accidents, shark attacks, serial killers, and more. However, that plan fell through when David Hasselhoff, one of the show's biggest stars, stopped DiCaprio from being cast.
As documented by The Hollywood Reporter, a 15-year-old DiCaprio was in the running to play Hobie, the son of Hasselhoff's Mitch Buchannon. However, The Hoff believed DiCaprio was too old for the part, so Jeremy Jackson, who was 9 at the time, was cast instead. "David thought it would make him look older," Douglas Schwartz, a producer on the show, told THR about DiCaprio being rejected. "He had a lot of concerns of that type."
Hobie first appears in "Baywatch" Season 2, which aired in 1991 and 1992. This was also around the same time DiCaprio joined the NBC sitcom "Parenthood." After that, he appeared in one of the all-time great "Roseanne" episodes, "Home-Ec," and joined the cast of "Growing Pains," so Hasselhoff ending DiCaprio's "Baywatch" dreams didn't derail the young star's television career by any means. And it turns out that DiCaprio wasn't the only famous actor Hasselhoff tried to block from joining "Baywatch": He also was initially against one of his co-stars becoming part of the show.
David Hasselhoff tried to prevent Pamela Anderson from joining Baywatch
Pamela Anderson joined "Baywatch" in Season 2 and went on to become one of the series' biggest names. But, THR reports, Hasselhoff reportedly was against her casting because she'd previously posed for Playboy and that children watched "Baywatch."
"She had these enormous breasts, and David thought he would be upstaged by everyone looking at her breasts. Which is what happened," Schwartz told THR. Still, Anderson was cast as Casey Jean Parker.
And who knows? Now that a "Baywatch" reboot is on the way, there might be an opportunity for Leonardo DiCaprio to don a pair of swim shorts and run on a beach in slow-motion, after all.