31.12.02
"OK,
so my ego's getting bigger" - Leonardo DiCaprio
Titanic
star, Leonardo DiCaprio, tells Radio Times this week that he wants
to be remembered as a versatile actor and not just a movie heart-throb.
"I don't want to look back at a bunch of crappy action movies
that fade into nothing," he says. "I want to leave a legacy
as an actor."
DiCaprio,
aged just 28, is about to appear on British movie screens in Martin
Scorcese's epic tale of the historical origins of New York's ghetto
gangs in the mid-19th century. The eagerly awaited Gangs of New
York opens in the UK on January 11th and DiCaprio suggests the film
offers a crucially important message for US citizens. "This
is the history that Americans are not taught, that disappears through
time," he claims. "When we learn about American history,
it's always this Utopia where the ideas of freedom overpower everything,
as opposed to the real hardships and bloodshed and class fighting
that went on."
DiCaprio
does admit to Radio Times though that if his name is associated
with a movie, it virtually guarantees a studio bankrolling the production:
"I'm not an idiot," he says. "I know that the reason
I'm able to attract the finance for movies with large budgets is
because of my name, and that's a direct result of Titanic. I'm lucky.
But while I'm in this position, I'm going to do the absolute best
that I can. I want to be the best possible actor."
Some
have suggested that the young actor has not coped well with fame
and that he has an over-inflated opinion of himself. He responds
with gusto to these accusations. "I know there is the perception
that I have no idea what it's like to be a real person, that I'm
just Hollywood," he sighs. "That's absolutely false. I'm
proud of how I've been able to take myself out of the celebrity
thing and look at my whole career, and keep my perspective."
DiCaprio
then follows all this up with a strange explanation as to why he
will be playing Alexander the Great in an epic production to be
shot next year under the direction of Baz Luhrman. "Ok,"
he admits, "so my ego's getting bigger, but it's not as big
as Alexander the Great's!"
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