Leonardo DiCaprio recalls meeting River Phoenix on the night he died

Leonardo DiCaprio has revealed that he saw '90s teen idol River Phoenix on the day he died of a drug intoxication outside a Hollywood nightclub.

Phoenix, like DiCaprio, started as a child actor and had built up an impressive resume by starring in cult classics such as "Stand By Me", "Running on Empty" and "My Own Private Idaho".

He collapsed and died on the sidewalk outside the West Hollywood nightclub The Viper Room at the age of 23.

DiCaprio said he wanted to shake hands with Phoenix but was too nervous to muster up the courage only to hear that the actor had died.

"I grew up revering River Phoenix as the great actor of my generation, and all I ever wanted was to have just an opportunity to shake his hand," DiCaprio told Esquire magazine.

"And one night, at a party in Silver Lake, I saw him walk up a flight of stairs. It was almost like something you would see in Vertigo, because I saw there was something in his face, and I'd never met him always wanted to meet him, always wanted to just have an encounter with him and he was walking toward me and I kind of froze. And then the crowd got in my way, and I looked back and he was gone."