Leonardo DiCaprio

Leonardo DiCaprio

-- His Living Fantasy

Leonardo DiCaprio was born November 11, 1974, in Los Angeles, California, to Ermeline and George DiCaprio. And from the very beginning, his parents knew Leonardo would be special. 

Victoria Looseleaf (writer): Yes, the legend is, in fact, true. Leonardo was a very 1)determined 1 boy. In fact, he was so determined that while George and Ermeline were visiting the Ufficci Gallery in Florence and 2)gazing upon one of these 3)fabulous 2 Leonardo DaVinci masterpieces, Ermeline was pregnant and she felt some kicks from the unborn boy. They decided 3, would it be a boy, they would name him Leonardo. And I'd like to say, "Yes, a masterpiece was born".

In 1996, film-maker James Cameron, best known for directing films like The Terminator and Aliens, began realizing his dream of bringing the 4)epic 4 story of the Titanic 5 to the big screen. But although Leo cheerfully accepted the chance to 5)audition 6 for the role of Jack 7 Dawson, a third-class passenger who falls in love with an 6)aristocratic beauty, he was concerned that the film might be more of a 7)showcase for special effects than for his acting 8 ability. 

Steven Smith (writer): He was interested, but he was very 8)reluctant to say "yes" to this movie. He was very reluctant because he was afraid this was going to be a big blockbuster commercial movie that wouldn't give the actors very much to do. 

At the audition, DiCaprio performed brilliantly. And Cameron was convinced that Leonardo could 9)convey the 10)blend of 11)impetuousness and sensitivity he was looking for. But overcoming DiCaprio's concerns about the part proved no easy task. 

Steven Smith: James Cameron said that he auditioned 9 Leo for 15 minutes. Leo auditioned him for three months. He really just couldn't make up his mind. And finally James Cameron said, "Look, you may think that this is not a difficult role, you may think that this is just a nice typical hero role, but it's not." And that's when he got Leo's attention. And, in fact, later Leo said that this was an extremely difficult part for him to play because it was the closest role he had had to himself. 

Co-starring as Leonardo's love interest in the film, was British actress Kate Winslet. 

Steven Smith: Fortunately, Leo had a tremendous 12)ally in his co-star, Kate Winslet. They really 13)hit it off. DiCaprio said that it wasn't a romantic relationship, but it was a great friendship. They seemed to have a good kind of teasing side with each other, they got through their love scene with a lot of laughs, and evidently they both kept each other 14)sane 10 during this process.

Kate Winslet: It sounds really nuts to say this, but we are really like brother and sister. And we shared so much, I mean on a personal level. He's got lots of my secrets and I've got heaps of his and I'd never tell a soul.

After six 15)grueling months, Titanic completed shooting in March of 1997. And when it was released to movie theatres just nine months later, it quickly became the most successful film in history, eventually earning nearly 2 billion dollars world-wide. Overnight, Leonardo DiCaprio was catapulted from teen heart-throb to international superstar. But it was a change he greeted with mixed emotions. 

Leonardo DiCaprio: It's surreal and I'm just getting used to it. I mean I don't have a perfect answer for it 'cause I don't really know, you know. This is all sort of new to me. 

Steven Smith: Titanic really sealed the fate of Leonardo DiCaprio in some ways that I think he isn't entirely 11 happy with. Of course he was thrilled that the movie was so successful. With Titanic, Leonardo DiCaprio has given up a large part of his privacy, the privacy that is very important to him.

Leonardo DiCaprio: I've taken sort of two roles that have definitely like jumped up my popularity curve, for whatever reasons, so I'm adjusting to it. I mean, it's cool, but... we'll see how it is.

Steven Smith: For Leo's fans, the most 16)disastrous 12 event of 1998 was his failure to get an Oscar 17)nomination 13 for Titanic. And I don't think that Leonardo DiCaprio is losing sleep over his failure to get an Oscar nomination. He is doing this because he has to. This is what he does. This is what he was put on the planet to do. 

But as the public's 18)ongoing 14 19)infatuation with all things, Leo shows no signs of slowing down. The talented young actor's seems to determined to keep his head on straight to take the 20)adulation in stride. 

Leonardo DiCaprio: I'd always dreamed that I'd, you know, be an actor and be doing well. That's, I mean I always had fantasies about that, for sure, yeah. 

Critic: I think, because he is so truly talented, we will actually watch in him grow as an actor. And that's the thing about Leonardo is that he has an endless capacity to grow as an actor.

里奥纳多·迪卡皮里欧

——戏里戏外

里奥纳多·迪卡皮里奥1974年11月11日出生于加州洛杉矶，父母是爱美琳和乔治·迪卡皮里奥。从一开始，他的父母就知道里奥纳多与众不同。

维多莉亚·洛丝里（作家）：是的，传闻是真的。里奥纳多是个很有主意的孩子。其实他太有主意了，爱美琳和乔治·迪卡皮里欧去参观佛罗伦萨的乌非思美术馆时，正看到里奥纳多·达芬奇的一张杰作时，有身孕在身的爱美琳感到肚里的孩子在踢脚。他们决定如果生的是个男孩，就给他起名叫里奥纳多。而我的说法是：“是的，一幅杰作诞生了。”

1996年，以拍摄了《魔鬼终结者》和《异形》享誉的电影制作人詹姆斯·卡麦伦想到要把“铁达尼号”的壮景搬上银幕，尽管里奥纳多欣喜地得到机会试镜演杰克·唐森——一名爱上贵族美女的三等舱乘客——他同时也担心电影只把重点放在特效上，没有给他发挥演技留下太多余地。

史蒂文·史密斯（作家）：他很有兴趣，可他犹豫着要不要接演该片。他拿不定主意是因为他担心这部片子商业性太强了，演员没有表现的机会。

里奥纳多在试镜中表现得非常出色。卡麦伦深信里奥纳多能表现出他所寻找的冲动结合敏感的角色特质。可要说服里奥纳多解除顾虑并不容易。

史蒂文·史密斯：詹姆斯·卡麦伦说，他给里奥纳多试了十五分钟的镜，而里奥纳多则考验了他三个月。他就是拿不定主意。后来詹姆斯·卡麦伦说：“你可能以为这个角色太浅，你可能以为这只是个典型的英雄式人物，其实不是。”他这么说才吸引了里奥纳多的注意。其实后来里奥纳多说他演杰克太难了，因为这是他所接到的角色中最像他本人的。

在电影中演出里奥纳多爱侣的是英国女演员凯特·温斯莉。

史蒂文·史密斯：幸运的是，里奥纳多和演对手戏的凯特·温斯莉很合得来。他们演得入木三分。里奥纳多说他们之间没有爱情，只有亲密的友谊。他们在一起有说有笑，拍摄情侣关系的镜头过程中笑声不断，而且显而易见的是他们一直保持着这种良好的关系。

凯特·温斯莉：说出来有点傻，不过我们真的很像兄妹。我们有很多共同处，在私人方面。他知道许多我的秘密，我也懂得他的很多秘密，我从没把他的秘密跟任何人说过。

劳累了六个月，《铁达尼号》终于在1997年3月完成了拍摄。九个月后，该片在各电影院播放，迅即成为历史上最卖座电影，在全球总共拿到20亿美元的赢利。里奥纳多·迪卡皮里欧由青少年偶像一夜之间摇身变成国际巨星。但这个变化令他思绪万千。

里奥纳多·迪卡皮里欧：这好像不是真的一样，我在慢慢适应。我不知道怎么说才最好，因为我的确不知道。这变化对我来说还是新鲜的。

史蒂文·史密斯：《铁达尼号》真的在一定程度上决定了里奥纳多·迪卡皮里奥的命运，我觉得他对此并不欣喜若狂。当然了，看到电影如此成功他也感到振奋。拍了《铁达尼号》，里奥纳多·迪卡皮里奥就没有了个人隐私，隐私对于他是非常重要的。

里奥纳多·迪卡皮里欧：我就像刚演了两个角色，声望度骤然上升，不管是什么原因，我正在适应这个变化。我觉得这太好了，但……未来怎样我们会看到的。

史蒂文·史密斯：对里奥纳多的影迷而言，1998年最难过的事就是他在《铁达尼号》的演出与奥斯卡提名无缘而过。我觉得，里奥纳多·迪卡皮里奥并不会因为拿不到奥斯卡提名奖就睡不好觉。他演电影因为他别无可选。他做的是演员这一行。他出生在这个星球上也是为此。

尽管公众对他的痴迷不减，里奥纳多一点也没放松下来。面对溢美之辞，这名才华横溢的年轻演员似乎仍毅然前行。

里奥纳多·迪卡皮里欧：我一生的梦想就是成为演员，而且是成为优秀的演员。我是说，那是我一直渴望梦想的，绝对是这样。

评论家：我想，因为他那么才华横溢，我们将能够看着他作为演员不断成长。里奥纳多的身上具备无尽潜能让他的演技更青出于蓝而胜于蓝。

[注释]

1) determined [di5tE:mind] a. 很有决心的

2) gaze upon 看

3) fabulous [5fAbjulEs] a. 惊人的，难以置信的

4) epic [5epik] a. 壮丽的，大规模的

5) audition [C:5diFEn] n. 试镜

6) aristocratic [7AristE5krAtik] a. 贵族的

7) showcase [5FEJkeis] n. 陈列橱，显示优点的东西

8) reluctant [ri5lQktEnt] a. 不情愿的

9) convey [kEn5vei] v. 传达

10) blend [blend] n. 不同种类的混合物

11) impetuousness [im5petjuEsnis] n. 冲动

12) ally [E5lai] n. 同盟者，盟友

13) hit off 相投，相处得好

14) sane [sein] a. 神智清楚的

15) grueling [5^ruEliN] a. 使人精疲力竭的

16) disastrous [di5zB:strEs] a. 悲伤的

17) nomination [nCmi5neiFEn] n. 提名

18) ongoing [5Cn^EuiN] a. 正在进行的

19) infatuation [in9fAtjJ5eiFEn] n. 醉心

20) adulation [7AdjJ5leiFEn] n. 奉承