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Translated by Carmy of LDC Italy

When I look at Robert Pattinson

Now he is one of the best Hollywood stars, he shot the fourth movie with Martin Scorsese (the eagerly awaited Shutter Island, that will be shown at the Berlin International Film Festival), but he considers his past, thinking about the fame reached with Titanic, and the look in those “vampire” eyes.

As a journalist, I should be angry with Leonardo DiCaprio. For the press, he is a hard nut to crack: few interviews, no shocking statements about his private life. Well, actually no statements at all. But I can’t be mad with him. I like the way he survived to the unexpected Titanic fame, during all these years. I admire his friendship with Martin Scorsese. I like him because he just uses his notoriety and his money to produce boring environment documentaries and to build eco-resorts. And I like him, since he’s just like you see him: no tattoos, no earrings or rings, he’s not a different person than the one you see on the screen. DiCaprio is the typical old schoolmate, the one that, even after many years, when you meet him again on Facebook, doesn’t seem that different. Tall, not so thin, during the interview he was wearing his beloved blue jeans, a white t-shirt under a blue polo, and he was drinking a Frappuccino with ice, in a big cup.

I saw him again in Los Angeles, at the Golden Globe Awards: black tie, hair combed back, at the same table of Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese and Cameron Diaz. So polite and so nice: the perfect boyfriend. It’s difficult to believe that he’s the same Leonardo who, according to the tabloid’s urban legends, used to hang around the night clubs together with Mickey Rourke and bunches of girls.

But he’s surely the same Leonardo who dated two top models, Gisele Bundchen and Bar Refaeli (did they break up or they’re still together?), but who never revealed any detail or secret of such relationships.

If in Hollywood the right to privacy proves one’s power, Leonardo is at the top of the pyramid. He’s the main character of one of the most awaited movies of the year, also because its release has been delayed more than once: Shutter Island, film adaptation of a Dennis Lehane’s thriller (the same author of Mystic River), and directed by Martin Scorsese. The movie will finally be in theatres in February, after the debut at Berlin International Film Festival. Meanwhile, DiCaprio has just ended the filming of Christopher Nolan’s Inception.

You work very much.

Do you really think that? I don’t think so. Well, some people shoot far more movies that I do.

Is working a lot a positive or negative thing?

I think it’s positive, how about you?

Are you turning over my questions?

No, I’m just curious about how people perceive me, because maybe two of my movies are in theatres almost at the same time, but in between I haven’t worked for about eight months.

And what do you do when you’re not working?

Film promotion in other parts of the world. Environmental commitments. But I also spend some time with my friends, or travelling (not for work). And I’m also engaged with the production company.

This year you produced the horror film The Orphan. What kind of producer are you? Worried about earnings?

When it comes to numbers I’m hopeless. I produce relatively low-cost movies, so I’m not worried about the box office. Of course, if I produced movies like Avatar, I would be far more anxious! I started this activity mainly because I wanted to find and develop projects for me as an actor. Actually, I keep on giving my opinion or achieving projects for other people, and in the end, I’m getting ready to become a director, one day.

Producing also means spreading your ecological ideas. Can you sum up your opinion in a slogan?

At the moment, it is important that people consider ecology as a great economic opportunity. Replacing the traditional central heating with solar panels means creating new jobs, and I think all governments should improve this.

Are you able to be consistent with your opinions, in everyday life?

I try. My house is equipped with solar panels, and I recycle everything possible. I avoid private jets, since it’s important to practise what you preach. But I also think this isn’t enough. And if everyone in the USA bought a hybrid car, it still wouldn’t be enough. What we need is an international cooperation: governments should reach an agreement and take the necessary measures together. Nowadays environment is a matter of worldwide politics. And it can’t be reduced to a superficial movement, some sort of peace & love thing, like the one that, after the seventies, ended without leaving a trace. Everyday individual actions are a starting point, but they only scratch the surface.

Are you ready to plunge into politics?

By no means! When I shoot a movie, I can repeat the same cue even fifteen times, if it wasn’t perfect. But in politics, well, you can’t afford to make mistakes.

While you’re here, 35, at the height of your career, a certain Robert Pattinson…

I see what you’re driving at. I don’t know Pattinson, but in his eyes I see the same look I had at the time of Titanic.

What kind of look?

A look that seems to say: “Wow, that’s absolutely mad, but I know what’s attracting all those girls, all those Medias it’s not me. I’m just a third entity, who’s looking at the whole thing from the outside. Sooner or later the hysteria and the drum roll will pass by.

But when the drum rolled for DiCaprio, you had a lot of fun: nightclubs, parties, girls.

The whole Titanic experience made me appear like a different, extravagant person.  But I was distant from this new identity, and I tried to dissolve it: it could have taken advantage of me, like it did for many people who became object of a huge popularity. It could have ruined me.

A whole generation’s sentimental education came mostly from some of your films: Titanic, Romeo + Juliet, The Beach. As a boy, how did you consider love?

As a boy, I didn’t care about love. I’ve never read a love book. I was more influenced by books like The catcher in the rye and The old man and the sea. When Baz Luhrmann came out with the idea of Romeo and Juliet, at the beginning I was horrified. To convince me, they had to tell me it wasn’t exactly a love story, but more a masterpiece which goes beyond the genre.

Once you said: “When you’re famous, what people want is to see you fall”.

That’s one of those things I said when I was young, it will haunt me forever! You’re not the first one who came out with it.

But it’s impressing for a 20-year-old boy to be so conscious.
Fame is a trap, it’s true. But it’s also true that many people are able to fulfil their ambitions without turning into different persons. And I want to be one of them.

I think you’re already one of them. But how ambitious are you?
A lot. I’ve always been ambitious. My family had few means, I’ve grown up in Los Angeles and I know you have to work really hard and to be lucky to become part of this environment. That’s why I never give up. I always think that maybe one day they won’t call me so often.

So, when are you going to give up with your job? Only when you will be old and you’ll tell your ten nephews about the wonderful experience of filming with Scorsese?

Ten nephews? Help me! I still haven’t a child! Do you think I should start doing some effort?

That’s your choice. Or you can even decide to go on with the cinema and never stop. You could become like Clint Eastwood: almost eighty, still in action.

It wouldn’t be bad. I don’t want to be more famous or richer. What I have is enough for me. But I want to do something important, something great, and lasting. I don’t know if people perceive that, but when I act, I throw myself heart and body into it.

How about Shutter Island?

The film is set into a mental hospital for criminals and people with very serious mental disorders. The story develops during the fifties, a period full of experimentations of new medicines and therapies. I studied a lot that kind of environment, on set there was also an expert in the medical history of the period.

How did your relationship with Scorsese evolve during the years?

When we first worked together, in Gangs of New York, I was just 24. During those nine hard months of filming, I had to win his trust. Now that we’re at the fourth movie together, I can say that we’re on the same wavelength. We both know what we don’t like in a movie, and that’s a good starting point to carry out good films.

How do you feel when you read that you’re the new Robert De Niro?

I feel embarrassed, and I can’t believe it. I already consider myself lucky to work with Scorsese, so let’s imagine the effect of being compared to De Niro.

Are you always sincere?

Always, in my work. I can discuss and even argue if someone asks me to do things I I’m not sure about.

I’ll ask you again: are you always sincere?

No, not always. As everybody.