Leonardo DiCaprio cast as Rasputin in biopic

Leonardo DiCaprio has been cast as Russian mystic Grigori Rasputin in an upcoming biopic.

Warner Brothers picked up the film, fittingly called Rasputin, which documents the life of the advisor to the Russian Imperial family.

The film is based on Jason Hall’s screenplay, who is also writing a new thriller – Paranoia – and American Sniper, a Steven Spielberg/Bradley Cooper collaboration set for 2015.

Leo revealed that he was drawn to the project because he liked elements of the script which centre on Rasputin’s life as a twin whose brother died, leaving him missing the better part of himself and was capable of kindness but also a ruthlessness.

The news follows DiCaprio’s announced that he would be taking a break from his acting duties this summer.

The Oscar nominee said he’d be taking “a long, long break” from acting after feeling “a bit drained” having just filmed The Great Gatsby, Django Unchained and The Wolf of Wall Street consecutively.