E! Online - Question & Answer

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E! Online: So, in answer to your question, no, this isn´t going "live". It´s just a regular ol´ interview, only you read in online instead of in print.

Leonardo: O, I see. Yeah, my dad handles all that Internet stuff.

E! Online: You don´t go online?

Leonardo: Well, sometimes. I like to go on just to see what people are saying about me. I get a kick out of that.

E! Online: I bet they talk about your name. It´s a great name.It´s practically Shakesperean.

Leonardo: O yeah?

E! Online: Yeah.

Leonardo: I´ve always thought of it as Italian.

E! Online: Well, yes , of course, but Shakespeare obviously wrote Italian stories.

Leonardo: Yeah, I like my name. My parents were in the Uffizi Gallery looking at a Leonardo da Vinci when my mom felt the kick. That´s how I got my name. My parents were real hippies.

E! Online: Why did you choose this project?

Leonardo: Because of Baz Luhrmann´s ideas on Romeo. Before, I had a lot of clichéd ideas about the story.

E! Online: How so?

Leonardo: That it was the classic love story, a cliché. I think a lot of people have that idea. But then I learned Baz really wanted to understand it and get rid of the stereotypes.

E! Online: What stereotypes?

Leonardo: The fact that Romeo is dopey, lovey-dovey, and it´s a corny story. And I was afraid I´d look like a fuffy.

E! Online: Fuffy??

Leonardo: Yeah, a fuffy.

E! Online: How do you spell that?

Leonardo: (Growing impatient) F-U-F-F-Y.

E! Online: I see.

Leonardo: So Baz helped me to get into my character.

E! Online: Had you read the play before?

Leonardo: Not since junior high. But making this movie, for me, is making Shakespeare accessible to a lot larger audience, people who have the same view of Shakespeare as I did. The characters are really timeless.. You know, Romeo is just a normal guy who talks about a bunch of girls until he meets Juliet, who makes him spin, then he marries her. And it was all very risky. He obviously risked his life for her.

E! Online: Think you´d ever risk your own life for love?

Leonardo: That´s a tricky question.

E! Online: Yes, I know.

Leonardo: It depends on the girl. I would definitely save her life. But as far as committing suicide, I don´t think that would happen.

E! Online: So, you wouldn´t die for love?

Leonardo: It depends. If I was in an accident and I had to risk my life to save hers, I would.

E! Online: Are you now or have you ever been in love to that degree?

Leonardo: That´s personal.

E! Online: Yes, but I´m not asking for names - I´m asking if you ever have felt those emotions -it seems german to me because of the part.

Leonardo: Love is that kind of thing that when you fall in love, you know it immediately. I love a lot of people in different ways.

E! Online: Did you ever see any past versions of Romeo and Juliet?

Leonardo: Just the Zeffirelli version.

E! Online: What´d you think?

Leonardo: I thought it was good. Our version seemed to me much more violent - and much less romantic. So, in other words, the violence was updated but not the romance.I think that what Baz did was try to create all aspects of the story -I do think the love aspects of the story are there, and I don´t think that any of the other stuff was closed out. Violence was a big part of that world. It was a whole world of violence. The only thing is, now it´s a world of guns instead of swords.

E! Online: Do you see an AIDS analogy?

Leonardo: How so?

E! Online: That we´re a society constantly on the brink of death - always walking that line.

Leonardo: I never thought of that before. Mainly, I saw it as the battle of two opposing families. I definitely see an analogy to different religions, though.

E! Online: What do you make of all this heartthrob business?

Leonardo: It´s a weird feeling when people are defining you, and you haven´t even defined yourself. When it´s written down who I am yet, or what kind of actor I want to be. I´m still in a stage of discovery.

E! Online: As you should be.

Leonardo: You have to hold on to who you are. The press is a powerful influence.

E! Online: How´s Titanic going?

Leonardo: Titanic is a whole new venture for me. I´ve never gone to something this commercial before. It´s good for me to be doing something like this - and, of course, it´s a love story.

E! Online: Is your career unsinkable at this point?

Leonardo: Whoa! What a question! Unsinkable - that question really fits. That´s really good!

E! Online: Well, is it?

Leonardo: I don´t know. You never know what´s going to happen. Because one season you´re hot, the next you´re cold.

E! Online: Right now, I´d say you´re hot, hot, hot.

Leonardo: That´s why I´ve got to keep control.

E! Online: Are you a real-life Romeo?

Leonardo: That would take a long answer. I agree with a lot of things he said and thought. I admire him. We have a lot of things in common. But I wouldn´t go as far as he did. I simply don´t have the guts.

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