Former ‘Boy Meets World’ Star Had to Teach ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ Cast How to Do Drugs

Martin Scorsese’s 2013 film, The Wolf of Wall Street, had a lot of both drugs and money involved. The film followed Leonardo DiCaprio as former stockbroker Jordan Belfort as he and his co-workers conned their way to wealth. Because of the subject matter, many scenes in the film showcase stockbrokers, including DiCaprio’s Jordan, under the influence of several kinds of drugs.

But the actors wanted to make the scenes where they took drugs believable. To do this, they asked one of the other Wolf of Wall Street actors, who was a former drug addict, to coach them as they pretended to do drugs. The actor in question was also a former Boy Meets World star, and incidentally one of DiCaprio’s closest friends.

How Ethan Suplee taught ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ actors to do drugs

In an interview on Michael Rosenbaum’s podcast Inside of You, Suplee explained how his co-workers needed his help to make their scenes look more authentic. The actors on the set couldn’t figure out how to snort cocaine through a straw, so they called on Suplee to coach them through the process.

“I helped them,” Suplee admitted. “Some of the people involved in that movie had known me prior and were like, ‘He knows how to do this, get him.’”

Because of Suplee’s history of drug addiction, his co-workers thought he’d be able to help with such a scene.

Even though Suplee had been sober for ten years up to that point, the Boy Meets World alum saw the humor in the situation and was glad to help.

Who is Ethan Suplee?

Most have probably seen Suplee without realizing it. The actor has built a steady career off of several supporting roles such as in American History X and Remember the Titans. But perhaps his most notable roles are as Frankie Stecchino in Boy Meets World and Randy Hickey in My Name is Earl.

Suplee got started with acting by chance. After dropping out of school, a friend of his offered Suplee the opportunity to go to a theater class. Suplee attended the class because he had very little to do without education.

“I had a friend who was an actor,” Suplee said to Inside of You. “And he had seen me in a play at school when I was 14 right at the end, and he was aware that I was doing nothing and left school. And said to me, ‘You should just come to my acting class, you should do that.”

How Ethan Suplee ended up in ‘Boy Meets World’

He spent a year in the acting class before he quit out of frustration. But even afterward Suplee was still interested in acting. He would hand agents his picture backstage, and an agent would eventually give him a call due to Suplee’s interesting look. Suplee was able to score an acting job on his first day of auditioning.

“My first day of auditions, I had Melrose Place and Boy Meets World,” Suplee said.

Since he didn’t have SAG, Melrose Place wouldn’t hire Suplee. So Suplee acted on Boy Meets World, a show he stayed on for three years. During and after his stint on the show, Suplee would later start doing drugs. Being overweight at the time, Suplee took drugs as a means to feel better about himself.

“It was just, like, I have this crippling disgust for myself that I can turn off with drugs,” Suplee confided to Rosenbaum. “And if I can do that, then I’m happy.”

Suplee later went on to leave his addictions behind and gain confidence in himself.

Is Ethan Suplee friends with Leonardo DiCaprio?

According to Pop Sugar, Suplee befriended DiCaprio around the 90s, and the two have been friends since. Suplee knows DiCaprio well enough to provide insight into the actor’s spending habits. And Suplee claims DiCaprio is cheaper than some might think.

“Leo’s cheap,” Suplee once said. “He’ll look for a place in the street to park rather than use valet parking.”