By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
February 8, 2000
Just a couple of years ago, Leonardo DiCaprio was the world’s most famous movie star. The actor will test the waters again with “The Beach,” which opens Friday. In the February issue of Premiere, DiCaprio, 25, comes across not as the party boy that the tabloids present, but as a young man who takes his craft seriously–though not himself.
Mark Salisbury writes, “An image was emerging of DiCaprio as a party boy clubbing with models and idly toying with movie offers. In fact, he was taking his time deciding.
” `I had been searching for something to do for more than 15 months,’ DiCaprio explains. “I wanted to find something I connected with. It’s a complicated decision process, what makes you trust that a film is going to be unique or interesting. Each film had its own reason why I didn’t do it. The misconception was that I was slacking off, but I was just trying to find something I really loved.’ “
