Reporter: Leonardo DiCaprio plays the 1)title role of J. Gatsby, a handsome 2)social climber trying to win the heart of a married woman. Its not the first time Leo and Baz have teamed up. Indeed, DiCaprios career took off when Luhrmann cast him as the lead in Romeo and Juliet back in 1996. Now, theyre at it again.
Leonardo DiCaprio: I look at being an actor as an incredible opportunity. I think that its almost like winning the 3)lottery in a lot of ways.
Reporter: Hollywood breeds a lot of stars, but there are very few great actors. Do you see yourself in that small 4)elite group?
Leo: I would never say something like that.
Reporter: At 38, Leonardo has already played an impressive and diverse cast of characters, from 5)heartthrob to 6)villain. DiCaprio has backed up his good looks with serious acting 7)prowess. Now hes taking on one of the gigantic characters of 20th century American literature, The Great Gatsby.
Leo: This is one of the most celebrated novels in the world. It…it is, you know, arguably the greatest American novel.
Reporter: Was it 8)intimidating playing J. Gatsby?
Leo: You know, everyone has their own connection with this book, and so, youre almost setting yourself up for disaster in a lot of ways. (laughing)
Reporter: 9)Invariably therell be comparisons with the last time Hollywood took on the celebrated novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, when Robert Redford played the leading role. Expectations are huge, not only for DiCaprio, but also for Australian director Baz Luhrmann.
Baz Luhrmann: I knew that I had to do it because its always relevant—that book—but it was particularly relevant now. The 20s was a period, a golden 10)orgy of money, you know, womens skirts went up, 11)skyscrapers went up, you know. Everything was going up. The stock market was going up, and it looked like, you know, aeroplanes, cars, it would never fall, but Fitzgerald, in his book, which was published in 25, he predicts its all going to crash.
Reporter: The movie is set in 1920s New York, but it was filmed in Harbourside, Sydney. And while in Australia, Leonardo attracted as much attention for his romantic pursuits as his acting efforts.
Leo: Im quite used to that kind of stuff. I didnt find it hard at all. (laughs) You know, look, I mean, we were shooting a major production in…in Australia, and there wasnt really anything that horrible said.
Reporter: Gatsby is the latest 12)collaboration between DiCaprio and Luhrmann. They first worked together when Leo was a baby-faced teenager in Romeo and Juliet.
Luhrmann: He was a boy. Now hes a man, and hes a man fully in control of his powers as an actor, but I think there are few people on the planet who have had his life, you know. I can work with, you know, a technician, a director of photography, he can be 60, and you still know that Leonardo has spent more time on film sets than that person, because Leonardo was on film sets since he was a six-year-old.
Leo: You know, the truth is that I remember saying as a very young kid, ‘I wanna become an actor.
Reporter: And thats 13)single-mindedly what he did, scoring his first roles in a number of commercials. He then 14)learnt the ropes on television shows before making a break into feature films.
Leo: I just said to myself one day, hopefully, Ill try to do something as good as these great heroes that I want to 15)emulate.
Reporter: Many child actors do go on to become cautionary tales. They get caught up in 16)booze, drugs…
Leo: You know, I think that its never been something that…that Ive 17)gravitated towards really. I think Ive gotten to be able to pursue my own dream and its something that, you know, Ive a great amount of respect for, so thats been really my main focus.
Reporter: That focus paid off 18)big time when he starred as Jack Dawson in Titanic alongside Kate Winslett. It was a role that made DiCaprio a global superstar. Titanic is what really 19)put you on the map, yet ever since then you seem to be avoiding the romantic leading roles. Why is that?
Leo: I dont think Ive ever avoided them so much as I never questioned what Im subconsciously attracted to as an actor. Its never been an 20)aversion to doing a love story or any 21)genre of movie. Im happy to try anything. I just sort of subconsciously gravitate towards subject matter, and I never question why, and I just go for it.
Reporter: In a 22)notoriously superficial industry Leo has kept the same tight circle of friends since he was a boy, including his co-star in The Great Gatsby, Toby Maguire. This is an actor at the top of his game who can pick and choose his roles. He keeps his counsel to his inner circle, and appears utterly unfazed by how anyone judges him.
Leo: I strive to be the best actor I can be, and whether Ive achieved that is always, you know, up to the audience and critics to…to decide. I dont…I dont have any power over that, and thats the one thing about making movies thats always frightening and 23)exhilarating is that you can go into it with the best possible 24)intent, work as hard as you possibly can, and people, for whatever reason, may just disconnect with the movie, and thats…and youre powerless to that. You really are. All you can do is really show up on set and, you know, work as hard as you possibly can, and thats…that I can say that I do.
記者:萊昂納多·迪卡普里奧(在《了不起的蓋茨比》里)飾演影片中的角色杰伊·蓋茨比,一位設(shè)法擠入上流社會(huì)的英俊男人,企圖贏取一位已婚女士的芳心。里奧和巴茲并不是第一次合作,迪卡普里奧的演藝生涯真正飛躍是在1996年魯赫曼請(qǐng)他領(lǐng)銜主演《羅密歐與朱麗葉》的時(shí)候。如今,他們又再度合作。
萊昂納多·迪卡普里奧:我把成為一名演員看作是不可思議的機(jī)會(huì),我認(rèn)為那幾乎就像是通過很多方式贏得的彩票。記者:好萊塢孕育了很多明星,但是偉大的演員卻不多,你認(rèn)為自己是這個(gè)人數(shù)不多的精英隊(duì)伍中的一員嗎?
里奧:我從來不會(huì)說這樣的話。
記者:三十八歲的萊昂納多飾演了多個(gè)給人們留下了印象深刻的角色,從情人到惡棍,迪卡普里奧以認(rèn)真的表演實(shí)力證明了自己不是徒有俊朗的外表?,F(xiàn)在,他在一部20世紀(jì)的美國(guó)文學(xué)巨著——《了不起的蓋茨比》(改編的電影)里飾演其中一個(gè)很重要的角色。
里奧:你知道,這是世界上最著名的小說之一,也可以說是美國(guó)最偉大的小說。
記者:出演杰伊·蓋茨比一角可怕嗎?里奧:你知道,每個(gè)人都跟這本書有點(diǎn)關(guān)系,所以你幾乎都會(huì)在許多方面讓自己陷入災(zāi)難的境地。(笑)
記者:弗·司各特·菲茨杰拉德的著名小說再次被搬上銀幕,不可避免地要與好萊塢上次拍攝的相比較,此前由羅伯特·雷德福擔(dān)綱主演。這次的期望是巨大的,不僅僅是因?yàn)榈峡ㄆ绽飱W,還因?yàn)榘拇罄麃唽?dǎo)演巴茲·魯赫曼。
巴茲·魯赫曼:我知道我必須要把這本書搬上銀幕,因?yàn)樗恢迸c現(xiàn)實(shí)相關(guān),尤其與現(xiàn)在相關(guān)。20世紀(jì)20年代這段時(shí)期是一個(gè)揮霍金錢盡情狂歡的黃金年代,你知道,女士們的裙子更短,摩天大樓更高,股票漲得更高,所有一切都在飛速發(fā)展。你知道的,比如飛機(jī)、轎車,就好像一切都不會(huì)傾覆。然而菲茨杰拉德卻在1925年出版了這本書,他在書中預(yù)言一切都會(huì)毀滅。
記者:該電影是以20世紀(jì)20年代的紐約作背景,卻在悉尼的哈伯賽德完成拍攝。在澳大利亞期間,萊昂納多的浪漫情事和他的賣力演出同樣受到關(guān)注。
里奧:我很習(xí)慣演這類題材,一點(diǎn)也沒覺得困難。(笑)你知道的,我的意思是我們是在澳大利亞拍攝大型影片,真的沒有傳說中那么恐怖。
記者:《了不起的蓋茨比》是迪卡普里奧和魯赫曼最近的一次合作,他們第一次合作是在電影《羅密歐與朱麗葉》中,當(dāng)時(shí)里奧還是個(gè)有著娃娃臉的青少年。
魯赫曼:他當(dāng)時(shí)是個(gè)孩子,現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)是個(gè)男人,是個(gè)能完全游刃有余地表演的男人,但我覺得這個(gè)世界上很少有人有他類似的人生經(jīng)歷。我可以跟技師或攝影導(dǎo)演合作,即使他已經(jīng)60歲,你知道萊昂納多在片場(chǎng)上花的時(shí)間仍然比這個(gè)人多,因?yàn)槿R昂納多6歲就開始在片場(chǎng)拍戲了。
里奧:你知道,事實(shí)上我還記得兒時(shí)說過的一句話:“我想成為一名演員?!?/p>
記者:就因?yàn)樗麑?duì)事業(yè)的專注,使他獲得一系列商業(yè)廣告的角色。他就是通過電視表演找到竅門才突破去出演故事片。
里奧:有一天我對(duì)自己說,希望通過努力,追趕上那些出色男主角的成就。
記者:很多童星的確不斷成為別人的警世故事,他們深陷酗酒、吸毒……
里奧:你知道,我認(rèn)為自己真的不會(huì)有這些傾向。我想我還要去追逐自己的夢(mèng)想,那是我非常景仰的東西,也是我真正專注的事情。
記者:這份專注讓他贏得了巨大的成功,他在《泰坦尼克號(hào)》里飾演男主角杰克·道森,女主角由凱特·溫絲萊特?fù)?dān)任。正是這個(gè)角色把迪卡普里奧造就成為國(guó)際巨星?!短┨鼓峥颂?hào)》讓你真正一舉成名,然而你從此似乎在避免飾演愛情片的男主角。為什么會(huì)這樣?
里奧:我認(rèn)為自己從來沒有避開這些角色,甚至沒有質(zhì)疑過自己潛意識(shí)里演哪一類角色最吸引人。我從來不會(huì)討厭演愛情片或任何類型的電影角色,我很樂意嘗試任何角色。我只是潛意識(shí)里傾向于某些題材的電影,我不知道為什么,就是喜歡而已。
記者:在人盡皆知、虛情假意的娛樂行業(yè)里,里奧仍維持著他兒時(shí)以來一眾關(guān)系緊密的朋友,包括和他共同出演《了不起的蓋茨比》的托貝·馬奎爾。里奧是電影行業(yè)里的佼佼者,他可以選擇自己的角色。他把辯護(hù)律師列入自己的核心朋友圈,無論誰評(píng)判他,都以絕對(duì)泰然自若的面貌示人。
里奧:我盡我所能做一個(gè)最好的演員,你知道,無論我取得多大成就都是由觀眾和評(píng)論家去決定,我無權(quán)凌駕在上面。演電影總是讓人又驚又喜的就是你可以帶著最美好的愿望全情投入其中,盡最大努力演好角色,然而人們,無論是什么原因,可能覺得電影(與他們的想象)脫節(jié)。對(duì)此,你是無能為力的,真的是這樣。你能做的就是真正出現(xiàn)在片場(chǎng)拍戲,竭盡所能做好本分,那是我肯定要做到的事情。