Leonardo DiCaprio: The heartthrob is a kid at heart

Titanic sank and Leonardo DiCaprio rose to superstardom.

That's a fact.

Did Leonardo, 25 (Nov. 11, 1974), feel like the "King of the World" that Titanic director James Cameron did (as he announced for all the world to hear when he was named Best Director at the 1996 Oscars)?

Hardly.

In fact, according to Leonardo himself, the backlash of the Titanic success so frightened him that, sigh, he almost turned into a hermit. Thank God, he didn't.

Otherwise, we would have been deprived of the great talent which first shone side by side with the formidable Robert De Niro in This Boy's Life, Leonardo's film debut at age 14, followed by What's Eating Gilbert Grape (for which he was voted Best Supporting Actor by the National Board of Review), The Basketball Diaries, Romeo + Juliet, Total Eclipse (probably his most daring performance as a gay poet), The Man in the Iron Mask and, yes, Titanic.

When Leonardo wasn't even nomina- ted in the 1996 Oscars for Titanic, his millions (billions?) of fans all over the world got that, uh, sinking feeling. But they soon rose from the depths of despair when Leonardo himself shrugged off that Oscar "snub" as, well, one of those things.

Two weeks ago, I actually shook hands with Leonardo at Kapalua in Maui, Hawaii, where the press junket for his latest starrer, 20th Century Fox's The Beach, was held. His hand (the right one) was a bit cold but his smile was very friendly, very warm. His eyes are bluer than the waters of Hawaii. He's lanky (about six feet) and he cuts such a casual figure that if you didn't know who he was ,you would have simply thought when he passed by that, you know, he's just a regular American guy, goodlooking enough to merit a second look. Leonardo was so casual in simple T-shirt and denims (after the TV interviews) that he hardly called attention to himself. No star complex at all.

The Beach was based upon Alex Garland's best-selling book which has attracted a cult-like following. The movie was directed by Danny Boyle of Trainspotting fame, shot in Thailand, the story's actual setting, amidst protest from environmentalists that the shooting would do harm to Thailand's natural resources. ("We didn't destroy anything," said director Boyle. "We saw to it.")

Leonardo (said to have been paid a staggering $20 million for the job) plays Richard, a back-packer who goes to Thailand to look for his paradise, only to realize that his paradise has turned into an island of nightmare.

The following Conversation kicks off on a light note (about Valentine, love, etc.) and then tries to probe the Leonardo DiCaprio psyche (his search of his own "paradise," etc.) and encourages him to discuss lengthily his life before and after Titanic.

It will be Valentine's Day in two weeks time. Who are you spending the day with?

"My mother. We might spend it in Germany during the premiere there of The Beach." (Leonardo's mom, Irmelin, separated from his dad, George, an underground comics writer and distributor, shortly after Leonardo was born, according to a magazine story. Leonardo is an only child. -- RFL)

So your mom is your Valentine date.

"My mom was born in Germany during World War II. She went to America right after the war. She had a really messed-up life. She studied at City College in New York. She met my father there."

You seem to be very close to your mom.

"My mother meant everything to me. When I was young, she brought me to Germany to be with my grandparents and to see what my German heritage was like. We travelled around the world together. She made me the person that I am now. She taught me honesty."

How was your life after your parents split up?

"I saw both my parents all the time but I lived with my mother."

What about your father?

"He's a Buddha-like figure to me, the kind of person I would like to be someday. He was in the underground comic book world with the likes of R. Crumb and Robert Williams. I grew up meeting those guys."

You're also close to your grandma (Helena Idenbirken, 83).

"Oh, yes, I am. I invited her to Thailand during the shooting of The Beach. She was supposed to stay for only one week but she loved it there so much that she stayed for one month." (Leonardo's mother and grandmother appear in some scenes in The Beach. -- RFL)

How old were you when you had your first love?

"How old was I when I had my first love? Oh, boy, I don't remember, I can't remember! I suppose my first girlfriend was my first love. First love? That's a strong word. I suppose if I found a true love I would be married right now, wouldn't I? Tough question. I don't know."

What's your most romantic moment ever?

"Most romantic moment? I can't remember any!"

What sort of girls turn you on?

"The same as what most people find attractive -- you know, something genuine, somebody basically good, maybe somewhat funny."

And what turns you off?

"Pretentious women really turn me off, I would say. Vindictive women turn me off. Opportunistic women turn me off, too."

Speaking of The Beach, of all the offers that came after Titanic (The Man in the Iron Mask was shot ahead but released later), why did you choose it?

"I really wanted a project that I could connect to. I just didn't want to listen to what other people were saying; I didn't want to do a project that to them was a good choice. I wanted something that was interesting to me. So when Danny Boyle talked to me about The Beach, I got interested right away. The Beach has a comment on society as a whole and I just love it."

In one scene, you press the nose of a wounded character to make him die. I find that scene very emotional and very touching. Very dramatic.

"That scene shows the sacrifice that the character (Richard) has to make, you know. Richard understands that there's no way for (the wounded character) to survive, so he makes him die. Richard actually feels that he's doing a heroic thing by doing that."

You can't seem to get out of the water and the sea. Titanic was shot mostly in the water/sea, and so was The Beach. It's a good thing you're not hydrophobic.

(Laughing) "As far as water is concerned, it's mere coincidence. There's no connection whatsoever, I swear."

What sort of preparation did you do for The Beach?

"I just love the collaborative feeling that I have with Danny Boyle. I love thei surreal moments in the movie, too, and the rituals that the character is made to go through for the audience to understand him better. I just love working with Danny Boyle."

It's very obvious.

"One of the things about Danny Boyle's style of filmmaking that I like is the fact that, you know, he sort of presents to you the character, you're not given a back story, you're not given the character's history or his past. Danny Boyle just sort of throws the character into the elements and you see what kind of character he is in the process of the movie. You go along with the transformation of the character as the story goes on."

In the movie, Richard is obsessed with his search for paradise. What about you, what's your idea of paradise?

"Well, I think that in a lot of ways people have a wrong concept of paradise. I don't think that there is really a paradise out there. You know what I mean? Not in this day and age where everything is sort of rediscovered. There's not too many places left that could exist like paradise. The whole notion of paradise is basically a place that could solve all your problems and I think that's a false concept. There's no place out there that can rid you of your demons, you know. It's something that you have to find internally, within yourself, in your own life."

You mean to say that paradise is a mere fantasy?

"We can certainly gain knowledge and experiences from places that we visit but it all comes back to who you are as a person. I admire Richard's courage in seeking out a place like that within his almost robotic life. So he goes out there and searches what he perceives as his paradise."

And he doesn't really find that paradise...

"Richard finds that the human animal in a lot of ways is not set up for surviving paradise. We never believe we own it. Wherever we go, we can't survive in a place like that. The whole book and the whole story is very symbolic of our relationship with the earth we live on, too, you know. We don't respect our surroundings and all we do is consume everything within our path to make it comfortable for us but with complete disregard for other places and other living things and for the whole environment."

Did you feel the way Richard did in the story? You know, seek your own paradise, a world all your own away from the maddening crowd?

"I think everyone feels that way sometimes. You know, get away from it all. But you know what happened to me these past couple of years. I chose to face it head-on rather than run away from it. I could have become a hermit, but I didn't choose to."

You must have totally identified yourself with the Richard character.

"Richard discovers that the whole world is becoming westernized and he can't escape it. Everything is becoming more and more pre-packaged and pre-digested. He's desensitized and he can't really find many things that he can connect with on a one-to-one level. Everything is pre-packed out for him. He goes to the far reaches of Thailand and discovers that it's all set up for the tourists. There's McDonald's at every corner and there's no way to escape that. Also, the story says a lot about the difference between a tourist and a traveller. You know what I mean? The tourist just sort of goes along with what's given to him while a traveller wants to experience the place that he visits on a more one-to-one basis and really get into its culture."

The video-game scenes are interesting. They speak well of Richard's playful and adventurous nature, and yours, too.

"The video-game sequences were partly my idea. I knew it was something Danny Boyle would find interesting, he being one of the few directors here on earth who would listen to suggestions. Not all directors are open to suggestions."

What did you learn from doing the movie?

"When I first read the book, I didn't have an idea that there's a whole culture of travellers called back-packers going around the world searching for something. That was the most amazing thing I learned from the book and from the movie. I didn't have an idea that there are so many Westerners going to far places searching for that sort of hippie-like nomadic kind of existence. Meanwhile, the ironic things is that they're making it more set-up for the tourists. I love to travel, I get a lot from it, but at the same time, you know, it's the whole concept of paradise. Again, as I've said, there's no place out there that can give you everything. You can learn from your travelling and bring home a lot of things but, you know, you have to be happy with yourself internally before anything else can solve your problems."

I wonder, what have been the changes in your life after Titanic?

"I see that the key question is, 'What changed me?' And the answer is, everything changed in a lot of ways; my whole life changed! You know, becoming a public property is something I didn't choose to be. Nothing's normal now. I have to watch everything that I do or say. It's a learning experience. It has also helped me understand the media better."

You sound like the tidal wave of attention and popularity generated by Titanic was overwhelming, something scary?

"Oh yes, it was!"

Then, even a Titanic-like popularity and success doesn't mean complete happiness, after all.

"I don't take it as something that would solve all my problems because no matter where you go, you still have to deal with yourself."

How did you cope initially with the impact of Titanic on your life?

"I dealt with it in a different way. I told myself I wouldn't let it affect me or overwhelm me. I was going to defy it. I was going to be who I was, I was going to lead a life as normal as possible. I was going to do what made me happy no matter what other people would say."

Fame and fortune don't equal paradise after all.

"The biggest myth of fame and fortune is the misconception that it is paradise. What fame has given me are unbelievable opportunities to do career-wise, which is a huge gift. You know what I mean? I'm more in the driver's seat now. I do the type of films that I want to do along the direction that I want to go as an actor."

And how do you deal with superstardom?

"As hard as I can, as well as I possibly can. Sure, there are some annoying moments, like when things are printed about you that are outright lies or imitations of the truth."

Such as?

"Such as millions of things!"

Do these "millions of things" affect you in a negative way?

"I can get frustrated but I just have to adopt to the situation because I realize that I don't have any control over it. I just tell myself, 'Look, the only thing that can represent who you are is the work that you do and what you put into it.' Performances that I give my art form are all that can represent who I really am. All the other stuff is out of my control. You don't have control over people who want to label you this and that."

Do you want to do another Titanic?

"You know, I think it would be utterly boring if I were to repat the same type of film over and over again. Titanic in a lot of ways was a departure for me. I took the chance to do the kind of film that I'd never done before. It was an experiment in a lot of ways and thankfully, it was a big success. I'm still a young actor experimenting with different types of roles that I really like to do. I think it would be underestimating an audience to think that they would like to see the same film over and over again."

What sort of roles do you prefer?

"Basically, I like films that say something different or films that experiment. Certainly, growing up with my father. I was constantly surrounded by all kinds of artists, not only actors and filmmakers but also cartoonists, poets and writers. My father was part of the whole hippie generation. I have vivid memories of all kinds of crazy things happening which could have affected the choices that I am making now."

Do you get engrossed in your movie character that you carry it with you even after the shooting is done?

"You know, I'm the kind of actor who can disconnect myself from the character as soon as the director says, 'Cut!' As soon as the camera stops grinding, I'm myself again; I'm not anymore the character I'm playing. That's why I love to play on the set in-between the shooting. If they say in my contract that I can invite my friends over to the set and they'd give my friends free tickets, why not? I would love that."

Do you still keep the same friends you had before Titanic?

"You know, it sounds like a cliche, I'm sure it does. But the truth is that my friends and especially my family are an environment where I could hone myself. But it doesn't mean to say that I don't make new friends or talk to other people, or anything like that. What I'm trying to say is that my family and friends have kept me grounded in the way that they help me laugh about all this. We constantly joke a lot about the 'image' which is supposed to be me but from which I'm actually completely detached. You know what I mean? The 'image' has become its own thing, its own life, but I have completely separated myself from what that is."

By the way, how do you see yourself 10 years from now?

"Ten years from now? I can't even see myself 10 minutes from now! But I hope that 10 years from now, I will still have the same excitement and enthusiasm for my work. I don't ever want to grow up; I don't want to be an adult. I want to be a kid forever!"