Tales float like icebergs but DiCaprio sails on..

January 19, 2000

THE BIG PICTURE BY CINDY PEARLMAN....Chicago Sun Times

He's still king of the whirl. Two years after ``Titanic'' mania, Leonardo DiCaprio just wants to keep his head above water.

``Every day it's a new rumor,'' he told me last weekend with a sigh. Looking like a young James Dean with his hair slicked back and wearing a tight black T-shirt, DiCaprio sat down over a breakfast where no topic was off limits.

``No, I'm not dating Carmen Electra. No, I didn't get my co-star pregnant on my new movie.'' With a heavy sigh, he said, ``I used to take things personally. I would often think, `This is going to eat me alive!' I would want to give a press conference every five minutes. Now I just don't care anymore. It's all so ridiculous.''

Now the truth: Yes, he wants to star in the next ``Star Wars'' as a slightly older Anakin Skywalker. Sort of. ``I've talked with George Lucas about it,'' he said. ``But I haven't seen a script. We've just had one conversation.''

Did he insist on a script because ``The Phantom Menace'' left so many disappointed? ``I need to see a script of anything I'm a part of. Period,'' DiCaprio demurred. Can he knock off Jar-Jar Binks for us? ``Hey, hey now! Low blow! I'm not commenting!'' a good-natured Leo retorted.

Like that famed Celine Dion song, he would go on and on about other topics:

* Yes, girls, he's single. ``I don't say that sadly,'' he said, insisting, ``I know you read that I party, but most nights I'm sitting at home. Maybe I get on my Web site. Talk to people.'' Recent reports of him smooching with Electra strike him as ``unbelievable. I'm shocked about how easily people will lie about what I do.''

* No, he doesn't hate ``Titanic'' director James Cameron. ``I didn't dis him at all in Talk magazine!'' said DiCaprio, 25, of a recent article that reported he dumped ice water on Cameron during the last day of shooting. ``It was like Gatorade poured on the coach's head.'' He added, ``I've said many times before that, yes, Cameron does have a certain personality. The truth is it takes a commanding, general-like man to do a movie like `Titanic.' '' Would he work with him again? ``Depends on the project.''

* Yes, he's excited to work with Martin Scorsese on ``Gangs of New York,'' an upcoming movie revolving around New York gang culture in the 1850s. ``It is going to happen, which is a dream come true for me. I play this young character named Amsterdam who comes back to avenge his father's death.'' Filming begins in Rome this spring.

* No, Leo did not destroy a beach for his romantic action thriller ``The Beach,'' due out Feb. 11. There were environmental protests in Thailand after ``The Beach'' was shot on the island of Phi Phi Lee. To make paradise even better, three tons of garbage were removed from the real beach. With permission of local authorities, the film crews also planted 100 coconut trees and lowered two sand dunes. ``We were targeted as this big Hollywood machine that came in and disrespected this island. A total lie,'' DiCaprio said. ``We helped the place.''

* Finally, he can't understand people who have seen ``Titanic'' 100 times. ``I've only seen it five times myself,'' he said. To the fanatics, he said, ``Go outside. Have some fun.''



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