Robert De Niro spanked Leonardo DiCaprio for real in Killers of the Flower Moon | Films | Entertainment

Martin Scorsese’s latest epic Killers of the Flower Moon is out now in cinemas, bringing together his two greatest acting collaborators for the first time.

Based on the 2017 history book of the same name, the 3-and-a-half-hour blockbuster focuses on a set of Oklahoma murders in the Osage Nation during the 1920s, which were committed after oil was discovered on the tribal land.

Robert De Niro stars as William King Hale, a real-life political boss of Osage County, who made a fortune through cattle ranching and unfair trade with Native Americans.

Meanwhile, Leonardo DiCaprio plays his nephew Ernest Burkhart, who is married to Lily Gladstone’s Mollie, a member of the Osage Nation.

And by the sounds of it, the Titanic star took the role incredibly seriously, especially during a painful corporal punishment scene that had multiple takes.

Around halfway through Killers of the Flower Moon, Leo’s Ernest is led by De Niro’s Hale into the back room of a Free Mason’s lodge.

The uncle is upset that his nephew messed up during their plot to murder the wealthy Osage family. To punish him, Hale has Ernest kneel so that he can spank him multiple times with a giant paddle.

Killers of the Flower Moon’s cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto was shocked by what he witnessed.