Edward Norton speaks out about saving Leonardo DiCaprio's life during diving expedition
It was revealed in 2016 that Norton had come to DiCaprio’s rescue
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Your support makes all the difference.Edward Norton has revealed the truth about saving Leonardo DiCaprio’s life during a diving expedition.
It was revealed in 2016 that Norton had come to DiCaprio’s rescue while the pair were nearing the end of a trip with marine biologist Sylvia Earle in the Galapagos Islands.
DiCaprio dived back into the water to chase after a group of rays. Norton, an experienced diver, realised that DiCaprio did not have enough oxygen to complete the dive and followed him.
Speaking on The Jonathan Ross Show, Norton decided to set the record straight, saying there was “some truth to this story”.
“It has been pumped up a bit more than it deserves,” he admitted.
Norton then recounted the incident: “We were in the Galapagos Islands. We were scuba diving with Sylvia Earle, the great oceanographer.
“I’ve known Leo a long time and he loses his mind around animals. He really has a childlike passion for them.
“This flight of 100 spotted eagle rays went by below us and I saw the look on his face.
“I saw him charging off with this camera that he had and I have been diving since I was 16 years old. I reflectively looked at my watch and was like: ‘We’re very close to the end.’
“I saw him going off and down and I knew that wasn’t a good thing so I followed him because I thought to myself, he’s chasing these things, he’s going to run out of air – and he did."
Back in 2016, Fisher Stevens, the director who worked with DiCaprio on the climate change documentary Before The Flood, told GQ that Norton had shared his oxygen with DiCaprio – a practice known as buddy breathing.
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“I was diving buddies with Edward Norton,” Stevens said.
“So we go down and we see 300 eagle rays and spotted rays and it was an amazing dive. Leo bolts away with Sylvia, and Edward goes in front of me and the next thing I know after 20 minutes I’d lost them all.
“Then, I see Leo buddy breathing, because Leo’s tank was leaking oxygen, and Edward had to save him! It was pretty crazy.
“But he actually did get some film for me and it was good for a second and then it got pretty shaky when he couldn’t breathe. But we really bonded on that trip.”
The Jonathan Ross Show airs at 10.10pm on Saturday 23 November on ITV in the UK.
Additional reporting by agencies
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