Entertainment Tonight - October 31, 2002
ET Catches Up With Leo!
What if you could pass yourself off as any professional you wanted, just for fun? Well, LEONARDO
DiCAPRIO does just that -- despite TOM HANKS' efforts to stop him -- in the new STEVEN SPIELBERG
thriller, 'Catch Me If You Can.' Tonight on ET, get your exclusive first look behind the scenes
of this exciting true-life tale!
"[My character] impersonates an airline pilot and a lawyer and a doctor as well as many other
things," says Leo. "When you find someone this good at conning, it comes naturally to them, you
know?"
Set in the early '60s, 'Catch Me If You Can' is based upon the memoirs of FRANK ABAGNALE, the
youngest man ever to land on the FBI's most wanted list. In Catch Me If You Can: The Amazing True
Story of the Most Extraordinary Liar in the History of Fun and Profit, Frank details how he posed
as these professionals -- all before his 18th birthday!
"There were a lot of conversations I had with Frank where he unconsciously didn't realize certain
things he was doing to deceive people," says Leo, who plays Frank in the movie. "I would ask him,
you're putting on a different accent, manipulating your voice ... he said, 'No I'm not.'"
Hanks plays FBI agent CARL HANRATTY, who devoted his life to capturing Frank and bringing him to
justice -- but always found himself just one critical step behind. The master of deception, known
to authorities as the Skywayman, was also a brilliant forger who became the most successful bank
robber in U.S. history.
"The real Frank had, as Leo does, a dazzling I.Q. and a tremendous style," says Spielberg.
Also starring CHRISTOPHER WALKEN, MARTIN SHEEN and "Alias" star JENNIFER GARNER, 'Catch Me If You
Can' opens in theaters nationwide this Christmas.
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