Front page	From the Event Guide archive! This article refers to an event which took place on, or until, 26 January 2007 Film Interview – Leonardo DiCaprio / ‘Blood Diamond’ Diamond Dog Leonardo DiCaprio plays a mercenary caught up in Sierra Leone’s diamond-fueled civil war of the late ‘90s in ‘Blood Diamond’, and it’s just earned him an Oscar nomination. Paul Byrne caught up with him recently to talk about the film. Having last week joked, at a group interview alongside Brad Pitt, Helen Mirren, Forest Whitaker, Penelope Cruz and Cate Blanchett, that he felt like retiring in the wake of ‘Titanic’’s colossal success because he was in danger of becoming “just a piece of cute meat”, Leonardo DiCaprio has bagged yet another Oscar nomination last Tuesday. The fact that it was for a movie that centres on the bloody Sierra Leone civil war of the late ‘90s, sparked by a struggle between rebels and the government to control the highly lucrative diamond mines, is testament to DiCaprio’s working methods. Having specialised in left-of-field films ever since he was old enough to read his own scripts, his highly credible run of movies – ‘This Boy’s Life’, ‘What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?’? (for which he was also Oscar nominated), ‘The Basketball Diaries’, ‘Romeo & Juliet’ – was halted when ‘Titanic’ became the biggest grossing movie of all time, and put DiCaprio on every teenager’s wall around the world. It took some time for the reluctant hearthrob to shake off the screaming fans, but his most recent run of movies – ‘Catch Me If You Can’, ‘The Aviator’ and ‘The Departed’ – have placed DiCaprio firmly in the A-list of actors working today. In his latest outing, DiCaprio plays Danny Archer, a wily mercenary whose smuggling days seem to be coming to an end when he strikes a deal with a fisherman, Solomon (Djimon Hounsou, also up for an Oscar) who had the good fortune of finding a rare pink diamond whilst enslaved at a rebel mining site. He has also lost his family, refugees after the rebels came and destroyed their village, and so Danny promises him he will help find Solomon’s wife and kids if he will lead him to the buried diamond. When I met up with DiCaprio recently in London – on the eve of the Oscar nominations being announced - he was keen to address not only the diamond industry’s multi-million dollar campaign to counter its negative image in ‘Blood Diamond’, but also to ensure audiences that his latest movie wasn’t simply a political diatribe. “It’s also a good, old-fashioned adventure movie,” he states. Turns out diamonds are actually a capitalist pigdog’s best friend. Was it the subject matter here that attracted you, or was it the director, Ed Zwick, your co-stars, Djimon Hounsou and Jennifer Connelly…? I’d say all of those things, but I’d definitely say, first and foremost, you can’t do a movie just for a political message. You can’t do a movie just to say something topical about the world we live in – it has to be a solid, entertaining film that can exist on its own two feet, you know. For example, I do a lot of environmental work, and I’d love to do a movie about global warming, or the destruction of our eco systems, but hey, that doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s a good story there. I don’t know how to approach a topic like that and make it ‘entertaining’. All I can say is, I would love to do more movies like this; that are entertaining – are films in their own right – but also do say something pertinent about our world. I would love to find more scripts like that, but they don’t often come along. This was one of them. Only a few movies have managed that difficult balancing act of politics and popcorn – ‘The Constant Gardener’ being the most recent. ‘Blood Diamond’ is like Indiana Jones on some very bad acid, given the horrific scenes of violence, and the rampant corruption. Was it hard for you to find the right balance? You know, it was really Ed Zwick, to be honest with you. Originally, it was a very trite story about two men, two African men, one black, on white, going on a search for a diamond. And he thought, well, if I’m going to do a movie on this epic a scale, with a thriller/adventure theme to it, let’s really talk about the diamond industry. Let’s really talk about what goes on in Africa when people mine diamonds, and what happens to the villages, what happens to the people. Millions of people have been displaced, and you’ve got child soldiers, people have lost limbs, lost their lives. Ed just felt he wasn’t going to be part of a tale like this unless it told the real truth behind it, and I thought that was very admirable, and exciting for me. As part of the diamond industry’s PR fightback, Beyonce and J-Lo sported big rocks on the red carpet at the Golden Globes in return for $10,000 being given to an African charity of their choice. Meanwhile, the diamond industry claim that less than one-percent of the diamonds on the market originate from warzones, but then, one-percent of $60b is $600m. That’s an awful lot of weapons… Good maths. The truth of the matter is, look, I’ve spoken to Global Witness, Amnesty International, all kinds of different organisations, about the issues, and there are controversial numbers when it comes to clarifying what percentage of the stones out there are conflict stones. And you hear one side of the story from them, and then you hear a different story again from the diamond industry. I’m not an expert. I’m not out in the fields every day doing the checks and balances. My sympathies tend towards non-profit organisations that don’t have a vested financial interest in that product. That’s where my vote goes. Def Jam founder Russell Simmonds was flown to Botswana – the industry’s pin-up – and returned, claiming your film presented “old stereotype images of a self-destructive, underdeveloped, savage Africa”. Hey, I’m not saying that these diamond companies aren’t trying to do the right thing, and I’m not saying that diamonds aren’t a source of economic stability for a lot of countries in Africa – which they are – but the truth of the matter is, I think the movie has already done some good by making the issue a global one. And it’s forced a lot of these companies to become more transparent with the way that they do business. And for them to know that many eyes are watching them is already an improvement. Our time’s almost up – have you been back to Ireland since your kisses were auctioned off for charity at the Dublin premiere for ‘Gangs Of New York’? Yeah, but I haven’t been over for a while. Need to take a break there soon… And how do you feel about tomorrow’s Oscar nominations – nervous? You know what, sure, I’m a little nervous [laughs]. Very nervous. You’ve got this, and you’ve got ‘The Departed’ - I’m sure your name is going to be called out… That would be nice. Maybe I’ll go celebrate in Dublin if it is. ‘Blood Diamond’ opens on Friday 26th January, certified 15A. www.blooddiamondmovie.warnerbros.com Since this interview was conducted, Leonardo DiCaprio has been nominated for the Oscar for ‘Best Actor in a Leading Role’ and Djimon Hounsou has been nominated for ‘Best Actor in a Supporting Role’, both for their parts in ‘Blood Diamond’.