Leonardo DiCaprio switched roles to avoid Killers of the Flower Moon becoming a white-savior film, with the film's focus shifting to the Osage victims and their relationships. DiCaprio's decision to play Ernest Burkhart allowed the film to explore the Osage experience more deeply, particularly through Burkhart's relationship with his wife Mollie. The film's essential themes revolve around Mollie and the question of whether her husband truly loves her or would harm her if necessary.

When Leonardo DiCaprio first became attached to Killers of the Flower Moon, the film adaptation of David Grann’s nonfiction book of the same name, in 2017, DiCaprio was set to play the then-featured role of Thomas White, the FBI agent who led the federal investigation into the 1920s Osage Nation murders. This was in keeping with the structure and tone of the book, which is mainly told from the point of view of the FBI.

However,...