Leonardo DiCaprio Is A 'Freak'

Posted Tuesday, November 6, 2001 at 3:03 PM Central

by John Couture

Johnny Eck has finally found the financing in Fox Searchlight and it's only a matter of time before they begin filming on the Leonardo DiCaprio movie. DiCaprio will play the dual role of identical twin brothers who couldn't be more different, Robert and Johnny Eckhardt.

Johnny Eckhardt, Johnny Eck for short (no pun intended), was born without the lower portion of his body. Johnny learned to walk on his hands and he quickly became a star sideshow performer. His twin Robert was his manager, but the story is anything but a simple tale of brotherly love.

The real Johnny Eckhardt even had a brief brush with Hollywood when he starred in Tod Browning's 1932 cult fave Freaks, a look at the perverse nature of circus sideshow acts.