Leonardo Dicaprio portrays the first director of the Fbi, J. Edgar Hoover in the soon-to-be-released biopic 'J. Edgar', and the Hollywood star has claimed he came away from playing the role with mixed feelings about the man who was in office for the investigative organisation for some 37 years between 1935 and 1972, saying "I don't think I necessarily need to sympathize with somebody to be able to play them. Some of the best characters that I've gotten to play are those where you don't really understand or empathize with their intentions."
'J. Edgar' also stars Josh Hamilton, Gunner Wright and Naomi Watts and is being directed by veteran actor and director Clint Eastwood. Expanding on his thoughts concerning Hoover, Fox News reports that DiCaprio commented, "I don't agree with his politics, but you cannot deny that he transformed our country and he was a great patriot in a lot of respects. But he became an absolute power corrupter. He stayed in office way too long. He became a political dinosaur toward the end of his life, and he didn't adapt to the changing of our country."
The film's tagline promises that it will go in to depth about several rumours that still persist about Hoover's life, including allegations of his homosexuality. However the film's script writer Dustin Lance Black - who wrote the critically acclaimed Harvey Milk biopic 'Milk' - skirted the issue, saying "You have to interpret it the way someone would in 1919: you didn't talk about it. I think people are going to come away with firm conclusions."