DiCaprio to play FBI chief in new film?

Actor Leonardo DiCaprio reacts during a press conference to promote his new film "Shutter Island" in Tokyo, Japan recently. Photo: AP

Hollywood heartthrob Leonardo DiCaprio is reportedly in talks to play the role of director of America’s Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in a new film.

The ‘Blood Diamond’ star will reportedly act in the biopic to be helmed by Clint Eastwood about J. Edgar Hoover, the first director of the FBI, Deadline New York reported.

Hoover was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director until his death in 1972 and is credited with building the organisation into a large and efficient crime-fighting agency.

The 35-year-old actor is preparing to follow in the footsteps of stars like Billy Crudup and Bob Hoskins by playing the FBI chief.

Crudup played the FBI boss onscreen in ‘Public Enemies’ last year and Hoskin portrayed the character in Oliver Stone’s 1995 film ‘Nixon’.