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Toronto Sun - January 18, 2000
Leonardo DiCaprio unhappy with movie rumoursby Bruce Kirkland
KAPALUA, MAUI - Leonardo DiCaprio is feeling used, abused and a little bitter over the mug slung at his new movie The Beach. "Iīm a little bitter, just because it is a lie and peopleīs perception may be a little tainted", DiCaprio grouses in an interview here in Hawaii, where 20th Century Fox has set up several days of interviews for the romantic adventure thriller, the first big movie DiCaprio has done since his megahit Titanic. It will be released Feb. 11. The young superstar is dressed down in grunge blue jeans and a simple black T-shirt. At 25, he has still his Jack Dawson babyface. Even his facial hair - a sandy-coloured goatee - is a mere wisp, barely noticeable. But when DiCaprio talks about the environment, he assumes the serious demeanor of a real adult, not just a reel one. "It had a lot to do with the political propaganda that was going on in the country", he says of the environmental protests mounted against the filming of The Beach in Thailand. The filmmakers - producer Andrew MacDonald and director Danny Boyle of Trainspotting fame - shot The Beach on an uninhabited and unsupervised island called Phi Phi Le, just off the coast of the Thai mainland from the city of Phuket. The island is a designated national park, but there are currently no enforceable restrictions on its use. After removing three tons of garbage left by the visitors, the film crew, with permission of authorities, planted 100 coconut trees and lowered two sand dunes to make the location more scenic for the camera. The trees have since been removed, the dunes resculpted and the island is back to a pristine state, according to the filmmakers. Macdonald and Boyle flew to Thailand and visited Phi Phi Le last Wednesday to check up on the location and meet with Thai officials. "Everything is absolutely fine", says MacDonald. "Everything is absolutely tip-top." MacDonald brought out a portfolio of before-and-after photographs to try to prove his point. He says that $125,000 (U.S.) bond they posted will be refunded because locals are so pleased. DiCaprio says that few people want to believe or understand what happened because both he, as a movie star, and 20th Century Fox, as a Hollywood movie studio, are easy targets and good for gossip. The environmentalists in Thailand used them as a lightning rod for attention, he says. "We were used as a test case over the ability of the forestry department to rent out islands to movies or for anything else. We were targeted as this big Hollywood machine that came in and disrespected this island. A lie started and all of a sudden it just grew and grew and became something else and became widespread. That became the story, no matter what we said about it. There was no way we could contradict it. Thatīs one of the unfortunate things that happened." DiCaprioīs bitterness is about self-perception. He considers himself an environmentalist. He has hosted Earth Day activities. He has a portfolio of ethical investments that are sensitive to environmental issues. He is planning to buy a hybrid electrical-gas car in the next year. He says he cares. Boyle says that the fuss over shooting The Beach may not be in vain, even though he feels strongly as DiCaprio and MacDonald that they were wrongly accused and targeted because of DiCaprioīs post-Titanic fame. "Although the film suffered because of them, although Leo suffered because of them, they did raise the issue of the environment in Thailand - and it previously had no profile what so ever. Itīs such an aggressive economy that the environment is a very low priority. This island is meaningless compared to everything else that is going on in Thailand.
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