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21st January, 2000
The Beach Inspires Top Threads
Source: Unknown
UK chain stores Top Man and Top Man are hoping to take advantage of the shining light that is Leo DiCaprio. The stores are official clothes sponsors of the much-anticipated The Beach, and are planning to launch a new range of special clothing range named (surprise, surprise) "The Beach" next month. We haven't seen the tropically-inspired togs yet, but we're guessing shorts, T-shirts and sarongs - basically a David Beckham kind of look, but without the headscarf.
Though there's no indication that Leo will make an appearance for the launch, they're keeping their fingers crossed. A spokesperson says, "We have been working with them to supply clothes for the cast of the film. Most of the girls in the film have been dressed by us. We are bringing out a Beach-inspired range of clothes next month in conjunction with the premiere." And in a departure from the usual premiere garb - dominated by designer labels such as Armani, Versace and Valentino, the store has also nominated itself to dress the stars at the British premiere on February 9 in London. "We're hoping to be lending out loads of clothes for the premiere night, it's going to be great," enthused Top Shop's spokesperson.
21st January, 2000
Court TV Premieres New Series, Hollywood & Crime
On January 21 At 7:00 PM/ET, Hollywood & Crime, Court TV's new legal magazine
show on celebrities and the justice system, will be hosted by international
celebrity expert Alison Holloway. Premiering on Friday, January 21 at 7:00
PM/ET, the series offers a glimpse into the private lives of some of
Hollywood's hottest superstars and their public dealings with the justice
system. Hollywood & Crime will air back-to-back episodes each week on Friday
evenings from 7:00-8:00 PM/ET, and features such celebrities as Leonardo
DiCaprio, Tim Allen, and Dennis Rodman.
Prior to Hollywood & Crime, Alison Holloway hosted Premier Story, a
nationally syndicated late night magazine show. The London native has also
been the Royal correspondent for Hard Copy and served as the London
correspondent for A Current Affair.
Hollywood & Crime launches January 21 with High School Confidential focusing
on the antics of celebrity teens and Family Affair, which takes a look at the
domestic crises of high-profile families. High School Confidential explores
the troubled times of three controversial "brat pack" actors: Charlie Sheen,
Sean Penn and Rob Lowe. Each attended Santa Monica High School and then went
on to have successful film careers and even larger legal problems. Family
Affair examines the hardships of famous Hollywood families, with Marlon
Brando, Phil Hartman and Marvin Gaye.
Upcoming episodes in February include American Beauties, Innocence Lost, and
Jailhouse to Penthouse. American Beauties will focus on the courtroom trials
of sex-symbols Farrah Fawcett and Anna Nicole Smith, while Innocence Lost
will focus on the brushes with the law that young stars such as Leonardo
DiCaprio, 'N SYNC and Willie Ames (Eight is Enough) have faced. Jailhouse to
Penthouse will showcase celebrities such as Don King and Charles Dutton, who
have spent time in prison for violent crimes.
20th January, 2000
Leo's Bash To Remember
Source: Star Magazine
Now that the confetti's been swept up, the hottest New Year's Eve party
turned out to be Leonardo DiCaprio's. Leo's soiree at a rented mansion was
24 hours long - it lasted from noon to noon. Leo fed his hundred guests -
including his entire family, Winona Ryder, Keri Russell, and Drew Barrymore
- three full catered meals. Leo wore a Hugh Hefner-style pink smoking jacket
and provided a dozen strippers dancing naked in the V.I.P. area.
20th January, 2000
Leo Ready To Feel The Force
Source: Unknown
One of the more widely traveled rumors in Hollywood is that Leonardo DiCaprio is all set to play a teenage version of Anakin Skywalker in George Lucas's upcoming production of "Star Wars: Episode II." DiCaprio recently told Entertainment Tonight he has spoken
with Lucas about the project and he's interested in doing it, but no
decisions have been made. Lucas has a little time to cast the role. He told
CNN he plans to start shooting on the fifth "Star Wars" picture in June,
and would like to finish filming by October.
19th January, 2000
On the Beach With DiCaprio
Chatting About Movies and Life, the Golden Boy is Happy as a Clam
By Claudia Puig
Kapalua, Maui -- After he became the world's most popular heartthrob,
Leonardo DiCaprio took some time -- almost 2 years, in fact -- to figure out
what he wanted to do next.
Perhaps reflecting his inner restlessness, the 25 year-old actor was finally
drawn to playing a seeker -- someone who would drink snake's blood for kicks
and risk his life searching for a utopian community on an uncharted isle.
DiCaprio found that character in The Beach, a movie that's light-years from
the sentimental mega-blockbuster Titanic.
In The Beach, opening 2-11, Hollywood's highest paid actor under age 30 plays
a rootless backpacker seeking experience at all costs. His credo: "If it
hurts, it's probably worth it." The character is drawn to a remote island
off the coast of Thailand that is host to a commune soaking in an idyllic
lifestyle that proves fatally flawed.
"It was the only thing that I really connected with and really thought meant
something," DiCaprio says in an interview. "Not to say that I only want to
do projects that have some sort of message to society, but I really
identified with this character's search for getting out of a robotic
existence and trying to find some sort of real sensation of emotion."
DiCaprio has been on a similar sensation-seeking quest. A jet-setter whose
every exploit hits the tabloids, his boyishly handsome face is plastered on
magazines and newspapers worldwide; every woman he gazes upon is eventually
rumored to be his squeeze.
His character in The Beach, DiCaprio says, "wins the lottery, finds the
ultimate paradise, and it turns out to be very costly."
The actor won his own lottery by starring in arguably the most successful
movie of all time and his Hollywood dream has had its cost, too.
"Almost everything that's printed about me is a lie," says DiCaprio, who
maintains he actually leads a much simpler life than is portrayed by the
media. Reports of random bar fights and smooches with Carmen Electra - it's
all distorted, hyped, overblown, he says.
"During the whole Titanic fever, it did get frustrating," he says, sighing.
"It's sort of calmed down a bit. But what gets to me is one tiny thing will
happen and it's mutated into a monster of lies."
Danny Boyle, DiCaprio's director for The Beach, sympathizes. "You get a
glimpse of what his life is like when you're working with him in Thailand,
and then you read a story that says he's in a club in New York."
So, just what is true?
Well, first off, he's not a brat. He doesn't seem spoiled or rude. He's
soft-spoken, earnest, fixing his pale aqua-blue eyes intently on those he
speaks with. The golden boy even looks golden; He's tan, his dark blond
hair is stylishly spiked and tousled, and he's sprouting a hint of facial
hair on his upper lip and chin. ("It's just the amount of hair that I can
grow," he says with a laugh. "You can just call it unshaven.")
He appears to be a polite, well-spoken, hardworking fellow. While filming
The Beach, he was repeatedly stung by jellyfish, but he dismisses the pain:
"Giant tides of jellyfish would come in, but a little vinegar took care of
it."
He takes his profession seriously and says he is grateful for the fame.
"It's a series of much more highs and lows since Titanic, but I think I'm a
very fortunate person. I don't have a negative attitude about fame at all.
I'm not tortured or constrained by it. It's given me the opportunity to do
the one thing in my life that I know is a true passion of mine, which is
acting."
He seems to have made his peace with being a teen idol.
"It is what it is. It's nice that young girls like me, I suppose."
Still he was unprepared for this level of fame. "There was no handbook for
me," he says. "No Being Famous for Dummies."
But he won't allow the paparazzi to force him "to chain myself up just
because of the fact that people are going to talk about the things that I do."
He seems to cultivate a mystique that is equal parts party boy and serious
young actor.
While in Maui to publicize The Beach, he hit the sushi bar with longtime pal
and fellow actor Tobey Maguire, who was traveling with him. Well-heeled
guests were reduced to star-struck fans. He also went scuba diving.
And, like the character he plays in The Beach, he's a self-confessed "video
game freak."
"I've had every video game system there is, he says. "It's a trap once you
get involved with that stuff. It becomes like this drug in a weird way."
DiCaprio devised a scene in The Beach in which his character imagines himself
part of a video game.
Other than video games, friends from his teen years and family help DiCaprio
keep it together.
"It's a sort of cliche at this point for every actor to say, but I do have
very close friends and family," he says with a sheepish laugh. "Thank God, I
have my friends to keep me grounded. They've been a fundamental part of my
not taking things too seriously."
He had a notoriously frosty relationship with Titanic director, James Cameron
and called making the film "the toughest experience of my life." Much was
made of DiCaprio's pouring a bucket of ice water over the director's head and
his conspicuous absence from the Oscar ceremony when Titanic rode to glory.
But when he speaks of Cameron now, he is restrained.
"I don't think anyone else in the world could have made that movie the way he
did it," DiCaprio says. "It takes a certain type of personality to control a
gigantic environment like that, thousands of different occupations merging
together to make something happen. I don't resent him for that."
However, he pointedly contrasts the styles of Cameron and Boyle: "They're
polar opposites. Danny's an inherently sweet, genuine person who's really
sensitive. They're really different."
He came out of Titanic determined to take more time between projects so as to
be a part of the creation and writing of a movie.
Making a movie in Thailand was an eye-opening experience. News reports last
year claimed that the film makers destroyed the island while shooting.
DiCaprio considers himself an environmentalist and was upset at the media's
depiction of him as an eco-villain.
"I'm a little bitter just because it is a lie," he says. "I would never go
to a different country that I don't belong to and destroy their island. We
were targeted as this big Hollywood machine who came in and disrespected this
island, when as a matter of fact, we took off 3 tons of garbage from this
island. But a lie started, and all of a sudden it just grew and grew into
something else, and that was the story and there was no way we could
contradict it."
DiCaprio, who is in the 20 million club now, grew up in an artsy environment
in Los Feliz, a hilly neighborhood near Hollywood. His mother was a German
refugee. His father, an Italian-American free-spirited underground comics
writer, exposed him to a boho hippie world, that included Timothy Leary (who
performed his father and stepmother's wedding ceremony), poet Allen Ginsberg
and artists such as Robert Williams and cartoonist R. Crumb.
"My upbringing was a part of a whole '70s hippie generation," he says. "I
grew up with tons of costumes constantly around the house, and dancing and
weird, eclectic people and artists, and weird things happening. But we
didn't live in a geodesic dome or anything."
From childhood, DiCaprio found meaning in playacting. He first appeared in
commercials as a boy and landed a recurring role in the TV sitcom Growing
Pains at 16. His first movie, This Boy's Life, at 17, was followed by his
Oscar-nominated turn in What's Eating Gilbert Grape. His other films include
the teen hits, Romeo and Juliet and The Man in the Iron Mask.
"I didn't quite understand what acting was at a really young age, but I was
always performing and doing imitations, he says.
His next performing may be of the Star Wars type. He recently met with
creator George Lucas at his Skywalker Ranch. DiCaprio is interested in doing
the second Star Wars prequel (playing the teenage Anakin Skywalker character)
but is waiting for a script.
In the meantime, he'll watch how audiences take to him in a darker role and
try his best to lead a normal life.
"I think the perception of what my normal life is like is somewhat tainted by
this sort of fame that Titanic has put me in," he says.
"I think people look at my daily activities as being completely manipulated
by other people and that I have no freedom -- and that's not the truth. I
really try to do whatever the hell I want to do."
19th January, 2000
DiCaprio Discusses Latest Role
Source: The Associated Press
Leonardo DiCaprio says his role as a rootless backpacker in Thailand in "The
Beach'' reflects his own life search.
"It was the only thing that I really connected with and really thought meant
something,'' he said in Wednesday's USA Today.
"Not to say that I only want to do projects that have some sort of message
to society, but I really identified with this character's search for getting
out of a robotic existence and trying to find some sort of real sensation of
emotion.''
"The Beach'' opens Feb. 11. It follows "Titanic,'' which made DiCaprio a
superstar.
DiCaprio, 25, takes his profession seriously and says he's grateful for the
fame.
"It's a series of much more highs and lows since 'Titanic,' but I think I'm
a very fortunate person,'' he said. "I don't have a negative attitude about
fame at all. I'm not tortured or constrained by it. ... It's given me the
opportunity to do the one thing in my life that I know is a true passion of
mine, which is acting.''
19th January, 2000
Take Web Surfers To 'The Beach'
Source: PRNewswire/iwin.com
The incentive-based games and interactive entertainment site, is giving users
the chance to experience the glamour of Hollywood and the lush beauty of
Thailand first hand with two fantasy give-aways. One lucky iwin.com visitor
will receive a trip for two to Los Angeles to attend the February 2nd world
premiere of Leonardo DiCaprio's highly anticipated new film "The Beach,"
while two other winners will each receive a trip for two to Thailand to visit
some of the exotic locations featured in the film. In addition, 30 winners
will receive "The Beach" prize packages, which include the film's poster,
t-shirt and soundtrack, as well as the book that inspired the film.
"'The Beach' World Premiere Getaway" gives movie fans the chance to be among
the first to see this hot new film, right alongside the stars and filmmakers.
The Grand Prize package includes round-trip airfare for two to Los Angeles,
first class hotel accommodations at the Regent Beverly Wilshire in Beverly
Hills for three days and two nights, tickets to the premiere, limousine
transportation to and from the event, dinner for two at Wolfgang Puck's
world-famous Spago restaurant and a tour of Universal Studios.
To enter the drawing, iwin.com users must redeem five iwin tokens, called
"icoins," for one entry in the raffle, with a maximum of 100 entries per
person. Players have until January 20th to enter the raffle. iwin.com
players acquire icoins by playing games of chance and skill and earning
icoins based on their score. New visitors to iwin.com earn 10 icoins just
for signing up and are automatically entered into a drawing for $20,000.
For iwin.com visitors who want a truly exotic prize, the "Reach the Beach"
sweepstakes will give two winners a trip for two each to Thailand for a
first-hand look at the beautiful, lush locations seen in "The Beach."
Winners will visit the famed Phuket Island, set in the Andaman Sea and
featuring the awe-inspiring "Sea of Mountains," as well as Koh Samui and its
Ang Thong Marine National Park. Each of the two Grand Prize packages
includes round-trip airfare for two to Phuket Island, Thailand, five nights'
first class accommodations (three nights on Phuket Island, two nights in Koh
Samui), a full-day guided tour of the coral islands around Phuket, a tour of
Koh Samui and the Ang Thong Marine National Park, a boat trip to island
locations featured in "The Beach" and much more.
To enter, web surfers can click on "Reach the Beach" banners and buttons seen
throughout iwin.com and its spin-off site eXtremelotto.com, and fill out a
brief questionnaire. After completing the questionnaire, participants will
receive a confirmation e-mail notifying them that they are registered in the
sweepstakes. The deadline to register for the "Reach the Beach Sweepstakes"
is February 15th.
18th January, 2000
Winslet, DiCaprio Keep Up Friendship Since Titanic
NEW YORK (AP) -- Their ship sank, but their friendship is still sailing strong.
Kate Winslet says she regularly keeps in touch with her Titanic co-star, Leonardo DiCaprio, even though their careers push them to different corners of the globe.
"We talk all the time," she said in Saturday's New York Daily News.
"You can't spend seven months together, as intensely as we did, and then suddenly walk away and not talk. I think I will always be friends with Leo."
Winslet is now appearing in Holy Smoke with Harvey Keitel. She plays an Australian woman who falls under the spell of a guru; Keitel is dispatched to deprogram her.
"It's probably the most challenging thing I've ever done," she told the newspaper.
18th January, 2000
DiCaprio To Play Anakin In Star Wars Episode II?
Source: ITN Online
Two of the biggest names in cinema are rumoured to be joining forces - Star
Wars and Leonardo DiCaprio.
This is not the first time that talk of a part for the Titanic star has
surfaced, and again the rumour mill has it that the 25-year-old actor will
take the role of the teenage Anakin in the next Star Wars film, Episode II.
At a press conference for his most recent film, The Beach, heartthrob
DiCaprio admitted that he had talked to George Lucas about playing Anakin,
and he admitted that he would like to play the role.
But that was the extent of his comment, and there is no official discussion
of the subject to date.
If DiCaprio were to join the film it could make it an even bigger media and
celebrity event than the most recent Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, which
broke box office records on its release and saw devoted fans queuing for days
to be first to see it on the silver screen.
Star Wars creator George Lucas has admitted that the plot for Episode II will
be a love story.
It is believed that Anakin will romance Queen Amidala, and the pair will
eventually marry.
Episode III is planned to be a darker and more threatening film, heralding
Anakin's transition from Jedi prodigy to evil emperor of the dark side.
Lucas is still working on the script for Episode II, but plans to start
shooting in June and finish in October.
The news that DiCaprio may be considered for the part of teenage Anakin flies
in the face of a leaked memo from Lucasfilm in November last year, that
pointed to the selection of an experienced but generally unknown actor to
take the part.
Trainspotting star Robert Carlyle, who plays alongside DiCaprio in The Beach,
is believed to be a candidate for a role in the film - one that would
catapult him into the stardom league in a way his Full Monty character Gaz
could only dream of.
18th January, 2000
Leo Tames Fame Monster
By LOUIS B. HOBSON - Calgary Sun
MAUI, Hawaii -- Fame is a monster, heartthrob Leonardo DiCaprio told the Sun yesterday.
But he's finally learning to handle the off-screen image the mega-hit Titanic brought him.
Thanks to the James Cameron ocean-liner epic, he'd become the poster boy for a generation of young girls all over the world, but he told the Sun yesterday in Maui that he'd found his own way to cope.
"It was a huge learning process," he said while promoting his latest film, The Beach.
"No one had written a book that told me what to do to survive fame."
What DiCaprio was soon to learn was that "fame is a monster you have no control over."
"Everything I did mutated into something entirely different once the press got a hold of it."
Many people advised the young actor to retreat and lay low, but that was not his style.
"I refused to become a hermit. I decided to defy it all."
This meant more public appearances, more parties and more beautiful models on his arms than ever before.
"I'm not saying what I did was the best thing, but it was my process," DiCaprio said.
17th January, 2000
Leo Taking On Anakin?
Source: Unknown
Leonardo DiCaprio may have been on the Entertainment Tonight show in America to discuss his forthcoming role in The Beach, but the story that has tongues wagging relates to Star Wars instead.
According to a report posted as theforce.net, when the interview turned to talk about Episode 2 Leonardo told the reporter that he had visited George Lucas at Skywalker Ranch to discuss taking on the role of Anakin Skywalker.
Although the script for Episode 2 is still unfinished, DiCaprio indicated that he would be happy to take on the role of Anakin if Lucas offers it to him.
What do you think of Leo as Anakin? Register your vote on the Empire Online home page.
15th January, 2000
Earthbound!
Source: The Boston Globe
Who would have guessed that Leonardo DiCaprio would be the head of EarthFair
2000, at the Washington, D.C. celebration for Earth Day? The news is on his
Web site, leonardodicaprio.com, and he encourages fans to head to the
nation's capital on April 22 for a rally on the Mall. Of course, the site has
more than Earth Day items: photos, fan club info, and trailers for his new
flick "The Beach.'' But there's no release date or details on his own film
festival.
15th January, 2000
Updates From The Beach Mailing List
The Beach Movie Mailing List - http://www.thaistudents.com/thebeach
(1) SOUNDTRACK LISTING - The following is the complete list for the music
featured on the CD for The Beach. You can pre-order this at amazon.com.
Follow the link on the front page of "Footsteps".
Track Listings
1. Spinning Away - Sugar Ray
2. Voices - Dario G/Vanessa Quinoness
3. Yeke Yeke - Mory Kante (Hard Floor mix '98)
4. On Your Own - Blur (Crouch End Broadway mix)
5. Return Of Django - Asian Dub Foundation
6. Pure Shores - All Saints
7. Snake Blood - Leftfield
8. Porcelain - Moby
9. Woozy - Faithless
10. Business As Usual - Barry Adamson/Leonardo DiCaprio
11. Brutal - New Order
12. Orbital Mix - Angelo Badalamenti (Remixed by Orbital)
