Corey Feldman Claims Johnny Depp Got Him Fired From ‘What’s Eating Gilbert Grape’: ‘He Said I Was a Junkie and He Didn’t Work With Junkies’

variety.com:

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Corey Feldman recently appeared on Billy Corgan’s “Magnificent Others” podcast (via Entertainment Weekly) and claimed that Johnny Depp got him fired off “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape,” Lasse Hallström’s 1993 drama about a grocery store clerk and his dysfunctional family.

Feldman said he got cast in the role of Arnie, the disabled younger brother of Depp’s Gilbert. Leonardo DiCaprio ultimately played the role on screen. “I was actually cast to play Leonardo DiCaprio’s role,” he said. “I never saw the film because I’m still bitter.

Bitter leaf in that one. But yes, I was originally cast for that role.” “Did they push you out?” Corgan asked. “Johnny Depp,” Feldman answered. “He was cast after I was, and apparently whispered into the producers’ ear that he wasn’t fond of me, and thought — he said that I was a junkie and that he didn’t work with junkies.

And this is the first time I’ve ever telling this story, so I’m sure I’m gonna get hung by this one.” Feldman, who was already a popular star at the time thanks to roles in “The Goonies” and “Stand by Me,” insisted that he was sober at the time, explaining: “I had just gotten sober.