discovered as - : status has grown.
Words: Alan Morrison
True lies
HE HAD AN ILLICIT NIGHT OF LOVE WITH Demi Moore when Bruce was out of town. He got one of his entourage to heat up a l‘ellow actor. He nearly hecame shark meat when his hoat capsized till. the coast olnl‘hailand.
Let's he honest. all ol. the stories ahoye concerning Leonardo l)i(‘aprio inyolye more than a touch ol' exaggeration. But because the higgest male film star in the world hasn‘t done a major press interyiew since l‘)‘)7's Rumm :lltr/ .lii/i'r'l. then the tahloids and. no less guilty. the magazines and the hroadsheets haye no choice hut to hype up his ol‘llscreen antics. .-\ multi-million dollar paycheck is one thing: the price of lame is another.
liame is also the suhject matter ol' his latest film. .\lade hel‘ore l)i(‘aprio hit stellar status with 'lilrllll't'. \Voody Allen's ('('/('/H'I'ly casts him as Brandon l)arrow. a temperamental young moyie star first seen arguing with his girll'riend and trashing his hotel room a la .lohnny l)epp. He then takes journalist Lee Simon (Kenneth Branagh) to a high-rolling casino and later talks the writer into indulging in a l'our-in-the—hed romp. All in a day’s work in the Hollywood hiin Inc.
In reality. ol course. l)i(‘aprio plays down his celehrity image. "l‘lie last thing I want is to turn into a hit llollywood jerk.‘ he has said in the past. ‘I hate this whole hunk thing. l l‘cel. when I see mysell in that. and these other cute laces. that I‘m just part ol' this meat l'actory. Like, "\Vow. here‘s the hunk ol‘ the month! This month we’re slioying Leonardo l)i(‘aprio down your throat! Isn‘t he cute'.’ Let‘s put him on the cchr and w e'll sell so many more inaga/ines . 'l‘hat's delinitely not what I want to he.‘
Away l'rom the coyers. the posters. the
rumours. l)i('aprio‘s screen work speaks l'oi'
itsell‘. lle more than held his own against Rohci't l)e .\'iro in This li’uy‘s life: he got
10 THE LIST .x/ ' ..-
'I don't know if people are staring because they recognise me or because they think I'm a weirdo.’
Leonardo DiCaprio
heneath the body and yocal contortions and l’ound the soul of his retarded character in ll'liul's' liar/rig (ii/her! (iru/wf’: he carried 'l'iluiii‘r' as a romantic lead hel‘ore the special el‘l’ects took oyer. .-\nd in ('e/e/n'ity. when he appears on screen. an electric charge sparks through the moyie he's the hest thing in it.
The current silence l‘rom the l)i('aprio camp is partly due to the l'act that he‘s just spent seyeral months on a closed set in Thailand l'ilming 'l'lic lir'rii'li with the ’li‘rii’iis/mrling team. llis luture plans are ha/y at the moment: he won‘t he playing Patrick Bateman in American Psycho. hut has optioned Keyin Baker's recently puhlished noyel l)l'('(IHI/(HI(/ l‘or his company Birken Productions with money from his own pocket. The hook l'ollows a group of Jewish. Irish and .v\merican immigrants in the ghettos ol‘ turn- oli-the-century .\'ew York.
So. until 'l'lir' Burr/i hits l'ls' cinemas in .lanuary 2()()(). expect only to read ahout Leonardo l)i('api'io‘s wild nights out on the town and his spurious romantic attachments to a string ol' heautit'ul women (so liar Liy 'l‘yler. (‘lare Danes. Natasha llenstridge and a catwalk’s worth ol models haye been linked to him hy paparax/i prose merchants).
'liyery where l go. somehody is staring at me.‘ he says of me in the camera glare. ‘I don‘t know it people are staring hecause they recognise me or hecause they think I'm a w eii'do.‘
But it could he worse: mayhe it‘s hetter to he talked ahout than not talked ahout at all.
'l‘ame is not the worst thing] he agrees. 'I went to dinner the other night. and the girls in the restaurant ignored me. lt was so annoyingf
Celebrity opens on Fri 18 Jun.
A star is torn
Five more movies about life in the fast lane.
King Kong Your (Iassi( small town kid gets whisked off to the l)|(] (iin by
uns< rupulous promoter With pi‘oiriises of stardom and love attion from a blonde floo/y, only to (rash and burn after a spet ta< ulai' opening ll|(]lli
La Dolce Vita Fellini's inastei‘piet e stars lylai‘tello lylasti'oianni as tlte super—tool, staiidal-inon(jerin(] hat l; and ladies man \.'.'ho trayy'ls the Rome party s< ene l()()l<lll(] for dirt on the l'|( h and famous His phototjiaphei' inate, Papamxxo, (gave his name to the (elel) snappei‘s \.'.'e know and loathe today Sunset Boulevard ’I an: i)|(] the
pit tui'es (jot small ' Banish all thoughts of Andrey: lloyd \"u’ehher from your mind and pay l‘-().'ll<‘i(](‘ to B'lly \i‘i/i'der's inatt liless lloliyi.'.()()(l satire (iloiia Synaiison is ll‘it‘Sll‘t’ll/lllq as self- (leli.(iin(; silent ii‘.o\.':e :(oi‘i Noi‘ina Desmond, ltiiinij Si'thtlllllt}
st ft‘t‘!‘.‘.‘.."il(‘.' \.‘~/illiaii‘ lloltler‘i 10a ‘i.'~.'ate"y (pane
King Of Comedy Robei’. De N'lt) is
s< liinutk Rupert Piipkn hopelessly (lt‘\.()I(‘(l to Jeiiy le\.‘.is' < hat shoy'. host in Sitiisese's iniiio' (lassit Bobhyv eittls up a star, and lt‘ll‘, ends .ip ‘siftl(l(l‘(‘(l by Saiitl'a liwvoani
Velvet Goldmine No, honest, i‘. .sii't really ahout ltltly’ and .x'iiitiy Jonathan Rhys luley'eiss (ilaii1 rot 'sei a'iaiities a 'll()( ls- assass"ia’.iiiii a”. the he ij’it o' his siii t ess, (toes toiitjaes ‘.'.l'..".
l xii." l‘.lt ti'eiia', iiti'.
iil‘...;lllii {'4‘
\ ll Ll )\