Leonardo DiCaprio has a lot more in common with J. Edgar Hoover than you would think. The actor portrays the politician in Clint Eastwood’s J. Edgarand he revealed some similarities he shares with Hoover in an interview with ET’s Samantha Harris.

“I understood his ambition,” said Leo, who began his career at a young age.

The Golden Globe winner went on to admit so differences as well, saying, “[Hoover] was motivated by his mother. She was like a stage mom in politics. I didn’t have anything like that growing up. I always wanted to be an actor just because I wanted to be an actor and I just knew that. It came from me.”

Even after all of their accomplishments in the movie business, Leo and Clint still put their art before any pay check — evidenced by the pay cut they both had to take just to get the film made.

“Everybody had to draw back a little bit because we want to do certain things,” said Clint. “That’s just the way of life. A lot of people probably wouldn’t do it; agents would probably advise you against it. … [but] would you really be proud of the results.”

J. Edgar is now in theaters.

SOURCE: ET Online