Leonardo DiCaprio was my first real love, and I once thought of him as my future husband. Well, a girl can dream. I wasn’t the only one; most young girls shared my passion for young DiCaprio, who won us over with his heartthrobby roles in Romeo + Juliet and Titanic.
DiCaprio was, however, making waves and melting hearts long before those films came into existence. Yesterday, in honour of Throwback Thursday, E! News treated us to an old interview with a fresh-faced DiCaprio discussing his heartthrob label. A label he wasn’t particularly fond of.
In 1993, DiCaprio was up for both an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his flawless performance in the classic What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. While chatting with E! News, he talked about his now classic performance and whether he felt that his heartthrob status was a hindrance.
“I didn’t really think about that,” DiCaprio responded. “I don’t know about that teen thing. I think it’s good, it’s good for publicity, but, it’s almost like they’re not actors, you know what I mean? They portray them as sort of like a piece of meat. Like, here’s the new cute thing, take a look at him, and goohhh, ahhh. I didn’t dig that”.
A very honest and clear-headed response. “I wanted to do characters that I could really get into and really act and make into a reality and not something contrived. I had some teen following, but I don’t really have that anymore. it’s sort of gone. It diminished, thank God”. If he only knew what was in store for him, he hadn’t even reached the height of his heartthrob status! Also, he wasn’t the King of the World yet.
#Peace.Love.LeonardoDiCaprio
