'Licorice Pizza' Director Reveals How Leonardo DiCaprio's Father Was Selected For Cameo Role

Leonardo DiCaprio's father, George, landed a fun cameo role in "Licorice Pizza" after the film's director, Paul Anderson, remembered that the elder DiCaprio "looks exactly like" what he had in mind.

The 47-year-old actor's father portrays a waterbed salesman in the comedy-drama, which was released on Nov. 26.

For the role of waterbed entrepreneur "Mr. Jack," Anderson pictured an image of an eccentric hippie who also sells wigs as his main source of income. After racking his brain to find an actor who would fit the mold, the film director remembered George and wasted no time in contacting him for the role.

A tweet from New York Times writer Kyle Buchanan explained how George clinched a cameo role without any help from his Academy Award-winning son.

"I created a picture of a guy who owned a wig shop that sold these water beds, and I couldn't put my finger on it," Anderson, 51, said in an interview with New York Times. "I kept saying, 'Who do I know that looks like this?'"

"And like a bolt of lightning, I remember, like, 'Leo's dad looks exactly like this.' So I tracked him down, asked him if he'd ever be interested in being in a film. [George] said, 'Sure.' I explained the scenario to him. He said, 'Sounds great. Did Leo tell you that I owned a water bed company?' It was called Foggy Bottom" Anderson added.

"Licorice Pizza" follows the story of "Alana Kane and Gary Valentine growing up, running around and going through the treacherous navigation of first love in the San Fernando Valley, 1973," according to IMDb.

The film stars Alana Haim, Cooper Hoffman, Sean Penn, Tom Waits and Bradley Cooper.

Leonardo and Anderson have never worked together but they do share an interesting connection that dates back to the former's "Titanic" days.

Leonardo was in line for the role of Dirk Diggler in Anderson's 1997 period comedy film "Boogie Nights." However, the actor turned down the role of a wannabe porn star so he could star in what would become one of the greatest all-time hits, James Cameron's "Titanic."