DiCaprio: Wolf of Wall Street is a "hypnotic ride" on a "giant ship of greed"

While there were very real consequences to Jordan Belfort's late 80s swindling, Martin Scorcese's upcoming satirical drama Wolf of Wall Street will concentrate firmly on the greed and excess that led to the stock market fraudster's downfall, rather than those who fell victim to his actions. 

In an interview with Daily News, star Leonardo DiCaprio revealed that the film will fixate on the "underworld mentality" of Wall Street, telling a tale in the same vein of Scorcese's previous films, Goodfellas and Casino.

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"We wanted to create the sense of a modern-day Roman Empire," he said. "We wanted the film to have this sense of everyone giving in to every temptation, minus the maidens putting grapes in our mouths.

"We purposely didn’t show [Belfort’s] victims. We wanted the film to be a hypnotic ride the audience goes on, so they get lost in this world and not see the destruction left in the wake of this giant ship of greed."

The actor went on to reveal that Belfort, who was convicted of fraud crimes and served 22 months federal prison, was on board with his disgraceful actions being shown in all their ugly glory on the big screen.

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"He said to me early on, ‘If you’re going to depict me, let me be even more candid with you than what’s in the book.’ We all know, and he knows, we’re depicting the darker side of his nature.

“What he did was deplorable, but I do respect anyone who’s going to be forthright about his mistakes. He’s not the way he was anymore."

In preparation for his role as the swindler, DiCaprio spent time on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange - an experience that led him to understand how people in such positions can give in to temptation.

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"There’s a lot of responsible people in that job," he said. "But you can see how excess can run rampant.

"That attitude is not just Wall Street — it’s part of human nature. There are people in Hollywood who are manipulative and obsessed with wealth. It’s anywhere there’s power."

The Wolf of Wall Street hits cinemas on 17 January, 2014.