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Controversy Magazine
By Earl Dittman
Having interviewed Leonardo DiCaprio
on a number of occasions before Titanic set sail to becoming the
largest-grossing film in motion picture history, I approached our impending
conversation together with some trepidation. Leo had never been fond of speaking
to members of the press, and he wasn't shy about letting those feelings be
known. During our past talks with one another, he could be evasive,
disinterested, pretentious and curt. But he was just a kid in those days, a boy
genius of acting, so it was easy to simply write-off his ill-mannered behavior
as youthful rebellion.
But DiCaprio is 25-years-old now,
and, thanks to the billions of dollars in ticket sales generated by director
James Cameron's Titanic, probably one of the most recognizable human beings on
the planet.
Success, though, can often have a
strange effect on a person's psyche, quite often amplifying their bad traits.
With that thought weighing heavily on my mind, I worry if the Leo I'm getting
ready to meet for the umpteenth time is nothing more than an older and richer
version of that obnoxious teenager I had encountered several times before?
All fears are completely laid to rest
as soon as DiCaprio walks into the Maui hotel room set aside for our interview
to discuss his post-Titanic film, The Beach. Immediately after spotting me, he
belts out a genuinely gracious, "How are you doing this morning," followed by an
enthusiastic hand-shake. "It looks like it's going to be a nice day," he quickly
adds. "It looks like you are going to have fun today."
Against all odds, it appears Leonardo
DiCaprio has grown-up -- both physically and emotionally. He's matured into a
charming, conscientious young man. And surprisingly, he credits fame with
converting him into a thoughtful responsible adult.
"Certainly, that whole year after
Titanic came out was a huge learning experience for me," he says, grinning.
"Mainly because there was no Fame For Dummies handbook that I could go pout and
buy to teach me what it was like to become famous and what I needed to do to
survive it. I couldn't just go to Barnes & Noble and get it. I had to endure
it on my own and make my own mistakes. I realized that I had to shape-up or it
would end-up destroying me. I've seen it become a monster that some people can't
control and no matter what they did, it engulfed their lives. I wasn't going to
let that happen to me. So I had to change some of things about myself to make
sure I didn't become one of those Hollywood casualties. I had to grow-up in
order to defy perils of fame and what it could turn me into."
But even while he was wisely using
the unprecedented success that Titanic was bringing him to put his life into
prespective, there were times when the constant barrage of media attention had
him shaking his head in disbelief.
"Almost every day I would read
something about myself that was just completely untrue," he remembers. "I was
shocked, I mean really shocked to find out how much and how easily people will
lie. It's unbelievable and I wasn't prepared for that. I didn't understand that
concept."
The tabloids went on a feeding frenzy
with DiCaprio. If he wasn't out with his "posse" of friends causing fights in
bars, the check-out counter rags would claim he was humiliating his young female
fans. And when it came to his love life, all bets were off. If tabs weren't
speculating on his sexual preferences, they would have him bedding down every
female actress in Hollywood. Once, they even reported that DiCaprio and Carmen
Electra had become extremely intimate with one another, right in the middle of a
Tinsel club!
"That story was so untrue, which is
the funniest thing about it," he laughs. "But I found that most of the stories
were like that. They were just complete fabrications. But I can laugh about a
lot of those situations now. I thank God I have my friends to keep me constantly
grounded and remind me to laugh about it. They've been a fundamental, important
part of not taking this too seriously or too hard. If I took it too seriously,
I'd never leave my house. I'd be afraid to. But I go out in public. I have ways
wearing a hat and glasses to not being recognized. But I don't use tham. I
refuse to become a prisoner of all this.
"But I'm not one to sit here and be
bitter and complaing about the position I'm in, because there are pros and cons
to everything and you adapt," he continues. "I've adapted to this life that I
have now. Someone asked me if I wished Titanic had never happened. You know
what? For the opportunity it's given me -- no. I think that film will be
remembered forever. It's a part of American and world-wide culture. It's
cemented in time and I'm proud to be a part of it. And more than anything, it's
opened the door for me to do any kind of film I want to be a part of. So all the
pros outweigh the cons."
Titanic's lengthy box office success
also afforded DiCaprio the time to search for a project he could really sink his
teeth into. He found just what he was looking for in The Beach. The story of a
disconnected young American who travles to Bangkok in a quest to find paradise,
The Beach is a bold artistic achievement. Directed by Tranispotting helsman,
Danny Boyle, The Beach is a gripping action/adventure that shocks the senses and
penetrates the soul. It's a stunning, visually arresting slice of cinematic
brilliance. And as the film's central character, Richard, DiCaprio turns in one
of the most compelling performances of his career.
"I thought tihs was one of the more
complex characters I'd ever read," DiCaprio says of hid role in The Beach. "He's
also a truly modern character. He really represents a lot of themes that I think
are going on with my generation: of being really trully desensitized to real
emotion and real, tangible things. Through TV, video games or whatever, we've
lost that contact. I also like the fact that this character goes on this journey
to find himself. I could relate to that. He ends up finding this island Utopia
that seems to be cocooned away from the normal laws of society and its rules. It
seems like it's the answer to everything that he's ever hoped for. But
eventually he realizes that paradise, in itself, is a false concept, that a
place like that can't exist on its own."
DiCaprio says he shares some of his
character's sentiments, but admits he has been able to find his own little slice
of paradise.
"I think there are places of
sanctuary that will bring you closer to your inner self or whoever you really
are," he explains. "For me, it's driving around in my car. I love driving in my
car alone because it really gives me time to get in touch with myself. But I
don't think there is some Utopian place out there where you can escape who you
really are. You're always left to who you are in the end and to your own demons.
Acting is also paradise to me. When I can look at something I've done, like The
Beach, and feel proud about it, that feels like Heaven to me.
The Beach is DiCaprio's first film
since becoming a member of Hollywood's elite $20 million per picture club,
another by-product of his Titanic sojourn. While its producers are baking on his
star power to turn The Beach into a box office hit, DiCaprio says he doesn't lay
awake at night worrying about how well it might do on opening weekend.
"I have no control over that," he
explains. "The only thing you can as a performer and artist is give the best
performance you can. No matter how much publicity and attention you want people
to pay to it, or what critics or reporters say, it's its own monster and own
baby after a while, and you have to let it go."
Since completing The Beach, DiCaprio
has been linked to several high profile projects, most notably a proposed third
Godfather sequel and the next installment of the Star Wars franchise. While he
confirms he was approached to appear in both films, his participation in either
of them now seems unlikely.
Francis Ford Coppola and I had some
very serious discussions about doing me doing a Godfather 4 , but sadly,
(Godfather novelist) Mario Puzo died and Francis decided to shelve it," he says.
"And I'ven been to Skywalker Ranch to visit with George Lucas about the next
Star Wars, but I haven't really seen a script yet."
Was Lucas interested in casting him
as the adult, pre-Darth Vader, Anakin Skywalker?
"I don't know if I'm allowed to say
anything about that... but I do know that we've talked about it," he says with a
laugh. " I'm a big Star Wars fan, though, I really love it. But I know they are
getting ready to start filming pretty soon and I'm already committed to
something else. So I don't know if you'll be seeing me in Star Wars any time
soon.
DiCaprio has signed on the dotted
line to star in Martin Scorcese's Gangs of New York. In just a few weeks, the
actor is scheduled to fly off to Rome to begin shooting the epic period piece.
"We will probably be there for about
four months, I'm kind of looking forward to it," he says with excitement. "And
before you ask the obvious, 'Why are you filming a movie about New York in
Rome?' it's because the story takes place in New York of the early-1900s and the
town just doesn't look like that anymore. So they are building a whole city for
it on a Rome soundstage. It's going to be awesome."
Leonardo DiCaprio has a lot to be
thankful for these days, and he knows it.
"Titanic changed my life, there's no
denying it, but I think it's made me a better person," he confesses. "To a
degree, life is a lot more hectic than it used to be. I have a lot more
responsibility, career-wise and personally, and all the little facets and
branches of what comes along with that. You know, things like protecting this,
protecting that, making sure people don't think that -- whatever. Essentially,
I've been given a fanstastic opportunity to do what I love and create as an
actor. I've been given more opportunities than I ever had before because of
Titanic. And I wouldn't give it up for the world.
Although he stresses he'll never be
the one to write that Fame For Dummies handbook, he does offer some advice for
others brave enough to fan the flames of fame.
"The biggest tip I can tell someone
getting ready to become a celebrity is to not take everything too damn
personally and not to freak out," he asserts. "Even before Titanic, I would take
things very personally that were written about me. I mean everything! I'd know
if someone didn't like me, misquoted me or said a lie about me.
"Before I was blind-sided by fame, I
used to see what it was doing to other actors, and I'd think to myself, 'God, it
must eat them alive to have people say that stuff about them! Jeez, I couldn't
live with myself!' And if I heard a rumor about a person, I'd be like, 'Oh my
God' I don't know how they sit in their own skin! If I were themi I's just have
to go and give a press conference and completely contradict what they're
saying!' But then you get in this position and it realize it's a monster on its
own and you have no control over it. You really don't. And even if you try and
fight it, it just feeds the fire sometimes. So I'm of the opinion that I'm going
to let my work and what I put into it speak for who I am. And then any other
assumptions about me can just be made on their own. I've got life to live and a
career to build I can't be worried about that stuff. I'm not a kis anymorei so I
don't have time for childish things."
Do you feel like the King of the
World?
"Sometimes I feel like that, sometimes not."
Didn't you just buy your dream
house?
"I did buy a house, but I wouldn't say it's my 'dream house,' because I'm
not sure what that is yet."
Can you describe the decor?
"I
really just got it, so there's no decor yet. I didn't even really have any
furniture before I got it. Before that, I was on location a lot so I didn'
really have a permanent place."
Is there any significant other
that's living with you now or who will be moving in soon?
"No there isn't."
What are some of the biggest lies
you've read about yourself?
"There were a couple of lies just
happened with The Beach: that I got (his co-star) Virginie Ledoyen pregnant,
that we were destroying the environment and that we were being bitten by sharks.
Stuff like that -- just ridiculous!"
There were stories that you were
really afraid of being poisoned while you were in Thailand. Is that true?
"No. Oh, what, the stuff about the food testers? That was a bunch of
crap. Bunch of crap."
How do you react to all these
lies?
"I just accept them. I neither laugh or get upset. It just is. It's its
own entity."
You recently turned 25. How did
you celebrate?
"I had a big party with my friends and we had a great
time."
With your posse?
"I
don't call them a posse. Other people call them that. I just call them my
friends."
You filmed The Beach in Thailand.
What did you think of the place?
"It's the most unbelievable place
on earth right now. Totally unique. It's like the Roman Empire. Anything and
everything happens there, and you can do anything and find anything."
Including beautiful women?
"All kinds of beautiful women are there, absolutely! But more so than
that, it's just crazy, wild insane mix of really sweet people and a very violent
culture. It's a whole demented world there."
What kind of car do you drive?
"I
have a Lexus right now. But I like changing my cars around."
Do you change them so that fans
can't follow you around?
"Sometimes I do that. I usually just get bored with a car,
so I give it away to my parents."
How many cars do you have?
"Just one."
Do you still smoke?
"No, I quit."
Why?
"Like anyone else,
for my health."
What king of regiment did you use
to get in shape for The Beach?
"Nothing interesting. I worked out for
four months, that's about it."
Do you feel like a sex symbol?
"That kind of stuff I don't even think about it, and I don't even agree
with."
Are you sick of Titanic?
"I've only seen it like five times, so not yet. I think I have a long way
to go before I won't be able to stand it. We'll see
."
Thanks a lot to Treggy and Pitssymoon 1
***
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