March 21, 2000

by Veronica Mixon

In fact, DiCaprio's appearance in Woody Allen's 'Celebrity' pokes a bit of fun at the awesome fame that accompanies success as an actor. However, DiCaprio is still quite serious about his work and you have only to look at his past work - 'Total Eclipse,' 'The Basketball Diaries,' 'This Boy's Life' and 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape' - if you have doubts.

DiCaprio was relaxed and self-assured as he talked about his new film and his life and career.

Leonardo DiCaprio

How did you choose this script?

It just struck a chord with me. It was this thing that I read; it took over a year to find something that I really connected with. I didn't want to rush into anything. I really wanted the next film that I did to be something that I could put all my focus on, and not really just go from film to film not really paying a lot of attention to detail. I was getting a lot of great opportunities after 'Titanic,' and I wanted it to be something I really felt a connection with. I just felt strongly, thematically, about a lot of things the movie said, about how my generation is so desensitized, how we're so influenced by television and media, we really have a lack of good tangible connections to real emotion anymore. This character goes on a journey, a search for a something, and he doesn't' know what that is, but he works up the courage to go to Thailand on his own. He ends up being a part of this little American model culture. It's all Disney-fied; everything is pre-packaged for the rich tourists. He wants to find something below the surface of that, he ends up being attracted to this other character, and finds a map to this paradise, which seems to be the answer to all his problems. In the end he realizes that paradise is a false notion, there is no place like that that's going to solve all your problems.

Is this character a hero like in "Titanic?"

constantly contradicting himself. He's a really complex character, and he does sort of change and mutate throughout the course of the film into various things, which I found completely interesting. I think that's all part of being an actor, and with all respect to people who were maybe fans of 'Titanic,' and things like that, they'll find I'm an actor and I have to play roles.

When people talk about fame, don't you think they mean money? That's their vision of paradise.

Absolutely. I think I've said this before, but wherever you go, there you are, and you have to deal with who you are, you know what I mean? If you have problems, you're going to have to deal with them no matter what position you're in. We've heard stories a million times over of people who've been in a position of wealth and fame and opportunity and have ruined it all or whatever, whatever. No matter what, you're going to have to deal with who you are in the end. There's no paradise. There's no final train stop that's going to answer all those problems for you. I certainly in the last couple of years, with all this stuff I have gone through, it's been a huge learning process, a transformation period for me of adjusting. You just get to a point where you have to have a certain amount of acceptance, you have to accept the fact that it's out of your control. No matter you try to fight it it's just going to feed the fire, and there's nothing you can do about it. You just have to have a certain amount of acceptance and say, 'You know what? I can't control the fame. This thing has absolutely no control over me. If it's going to be a monster, that's just going to be the way it is.'

Where do you go for those answers or is it all from experience and learning?

It's all pretty much experience and learning. The thing about it is, there is no handbook on how to do this, on how to experience this. There's no self-help center at the library where you get a book out on what you do when you get famous, you know what I mean? Nobody wrote that book, so you really have to experience it on your own. There's really no one that I knew that I could talk to. You make some mistakes and you learn in the process, that's it.

What do you think this script has to say?

I thought it said a lot about, I don't want to say my generation, but I thought it said a lot about society and what's going on in the world today and how it's really come down to the same thing. A lot of different places in the world are losing their identity. The media's influence on young people and how they interact nowadays as opposed to other things. I don't know the answer - which's for sure.

Are you looking for a totally private place like in the movie?

First of all, I think it's probably a fantasy that there's a place like that out there, number one. But I do as much as I can wherever I want without thinking of the repercussions that might happen. I just do it.

Are there places that are easier to hang out?

Surprisingly Los Angeles.

Is there a 'beach' for Leonardo?

I don't think there is any place like that. Maybe there is. The whole part of 'The Beach' for me is that there is a place like that, but it's always going to be a temporary one. You may grow in that experience and learn from that experience, but there is no one place for me that answers all, all the questions to your problems. It's just a series of life experiences.

You seem to be in a lot of pain?

I'd say the character was. A jellyfish stung him. Rats came at one point. At the same time, it was fun. It was fun as hell to shoot the film.

Where did the relationship with the French girl originate?

That was already in the script beforehand. I think there was this anticipation with the character. I mean, I felt it too, and I think Danny just said, 'You know what? I'm going to let him sleep with the girl. I can't take the anticipation or whatever, to have all this anticipation that never amounts to anything. I just have to have that happen.' I think it really works, it works along the lines of the characters. There's sort of this fascination with isolation, whenever he gets something, the grass is always greener on the other side, and he's not good at just accepting what's in front of him, you know what I mean? He uses every little step of paradise that he wants, and gets what he wants, but it's still not enough. He has to take it further. Further emotionally. First he gets the girl, who actually is rejecting him. The whole relationship sours. It made the characters more complex, they had that much more interesting relationships to me.

Danny said that even during the love scenes, you didn't stop your legendary pranks.

My legendary pranks? I don't know how legendary they are. I think that, just like life, it gains with a relaxed atmosphere, so notoriously, I suppose, I joke around off camera. I don't remember specifically what I did.

Did the island overwhelm when you arrived?

Absolutely! When we first got there, to start production, I was in shock. Literally, walking out onto that beach, pretty much. I don't think that Howard Stern could have imagined a better place to have a location. It's just beautiful sun, glittering sea, light sands and palm trees and smiling women. It rocked. It was just one of those moments in your life.

Was all the environmental controversy frustrating for you?

Oh, yeah, it was unfortunate. We were a target case for a lot of political propaganda that was going on at the time, about the relationship between the government that was allowed to rent out an island. The production team and I were both used as sort of a test case for everyone to criticize. Meanwhile, what we had done, we took three tons of garbage off that island. It was pretty much a disaster when we got there. But, unfortunately, we got caught up in a series of lies about what was going on there and people read it all around the world. But then again, like I said before, these are things that you have no control over. All you can do is try and deal with them professionally, and the truth will get out in the end.

Is there something you love besides acting?

Is there something besides acting, yeah, there's a lot of things.

How do you spend your time when you're not working?

The first thing that comes to mind... OK, this is going to sound lame, but that would be hanging out with my friends. That's the most honest answer I suppose I could give. That essentially takes me away from the whole world and that really grounds me in a lot of ways, sends me back to who I am. They're so integrally a part of me. I've known so many of them for such a long time, so no matter what the hell is going on, they can always sort of bring me back down again.

What do you guys do together?

We work out, sometimes. We screw around. We eat a lot. We do a lot of this and that. I'm trying to think what else we do. Horseback riding.

How much is this character like you?

The character is pretty ordinary. Like myself? I'm not sure. Uh, you know I think that I'm absolutely still in the process of finding out who I am, and I don't know. I have a certain idea. But I know some kids who know more than me. I'm sure there's a lot of, I still absolutely agree with that comment, when you go off and take on different characters and personalities, it's all a part of learning who you are, too. That's why this job is awesome.

Do you find the tabloid reports on you amusing or is it awful sometimes?

I really say that I used to lash out more, get more upset. But it just is what it is. It just exists, you know what I mean? I try not to get upset by it. I can't force myself to laugh at it because sometimes it's just not that funny. I think that unfortunately, a lot of times, I don't want to say...I think I just chose not to offer as much persona information to the public. I don't know. That's just the way I've sort of operated. One little thing is heard about, there's a rumor about something, and all a sudden it takes on it's own life, it mutates into something completely different, it becomes a much bigger, more ridiculous story than it is. Ninety percent of the stuff that I've heard about myself is absolutely untrue. It mutated from some other minor thing, or a completely false thing. Sometimes, I can get a little upset over it, but I try not to get too upset over it. But I can't laugh. It's just not funny.

Do you worry about showing up to stuff, like the premiere?

I didn't even think it would be written about. It was really nice. Kate was there, hadn't seen Kate [Winslet] in over a year. But you're right, I've chosen not to be worried about it. I think I went through a period right after 'Titanic' came out where I was sort of...I remember talking to one of my friends and saying, 'Oh, I can't go there. I can't do that. I can't. I've got to stay home.' He was like, 'Are you kidding? You're going to let that whole thing that isn't a part of you affect your life, and how you do things day to day? Are you going to hide out like a little hermit because of it?' It made me realize I have no control over it. Even if I did stay in my house for six months, things are going to be said anyway, something ridiculous. I might as well not hide out and be a hermit.

What do you think of Danny Boyle? Is he a genius?

Absolutely! I thought 'Trainspotting' was one of the most unbelievably different films that I'd ever seen, period. It was unlike any film I'd ever seen. It just took so many chances. It showed this world of heroin, which is an unseemly subject. It just made it to me really fascinating. Something I would never find tantalizing. It was a dangerous film that communicated, at the same time. And the ability that he has to go into that surreal realm of filmmaking and really not take you out of the world, actually makes you more connected to the characters and what they're going through, I thought it was unbelievable. Especially on a film that had that kind of budget, the film that he created out of that is just unbelievable. I love his style of filmmaking, and he came to me with 'The Beach,' and I was a fan. I love his work. I was excited that he wanted to work with me.

Is it true that you collaborated on the writing?

Yeah, we did a lot of script work. We did a lot of development. We made a lot of changes as far as where we wanted the film to go and what we wanted to say. We did a lot of experimentation with taking different characters out and putting them back in, adding different actions. There was a point where Daffy wasn't even in the opening scene. Then we put him in. We experimented all over the place with conversations and arguments.

Do you associate marijuana with paradise?

I think it's more closely related to Thailand, which is why there were marijuana fields in this film.

Are you reconciled with your character not having all the responsibility?

Yeah, absolutely! There was a point during the editing process where some of the responsibility is taken away from my character. But it's really important that he be the one that was left with the guilt for what he's done. Not have it be the influence of another character on him. This transformation that he goes through, it's his mistake, and it's his kind of demented world that he conjures up these sort of things that suffers from. He's the one that unravels that whole community for what it is, and essentially ruins it.

Are you doing [Martin] Scorcese's project?

Yeah, as far as I know. Hollywood, as we know, is a fickle place. It can change at any time up to the first day of shooting, so I never truly know. But from what I've been told, the conversations with Mr. Scorcese and with the studio, it is happening. It's a true story about gang relationships in the 1850's.