» beyond his oscar win
This is the ironic bit: He’s the perfect
movie star. That makes it di cult to
find the seams separating his persona
and the “real” Leo. Through no fault of
his own, it makes his whole public life
look like a performance. But his success
as an activist relies on a display of true
passion; on convincing you that he really does care about the planet, that it
really does occupy much of his waking
thought, and that one of the reasons he
has not had children is because he is
genuinely afraid for their future. So how
does he reconcile the two? How does
he convince you that he’s for real? The
answer is that he has to do things other
movie stars simply wouldn’t do.
WE DON’T often think about how
celebrities earn their platforms, but assuming you’re a person who cares what
movie stars said (which I would assume
you are if you’re still reading this) it’s
worth thinking about. Because if Leo
had come out as an avid climate change
denier, I’d wager that he wouldn’t have
lost many fans. In fact, he might have
even changed a few minds, which is
scary to think about.
That said, I also think it’s unfair to place
this burden of authenticity on him. Celebrity culture has become this messy
thing we gawk at from a distance: the
sex tapes, the surreptitiously recorded
racist rants, photos of haggard actresses
stepping out of limos. Those are the
things we think of when we talk about
their ‘real’ lives, which makes the cleancut environment-loving Leo an anomaly. But maybe it shouldn’t be. Maybe
he’s just a decent guy.
I personally have no idea whether his
speech at the academy awards was a
performance. I also don’t know if all
the other incredible things he’s done
for the environment – the $45 million
his foundation has contributed to organizations across the globe, his speeches
to the United Nations, the documentaries, etc. – are all part of some bigger
performance. Here’s what I do know
for sure: the world’s biggest movie
stars don’t have to do things they don’t
want to do. But Leo, who is arguably
the biggest, does. He takes care of his
responsibilities. nd if that requires him
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• fredi spring 2016
to get onstage at the Oscars and fudge
a few of the finer points about global
warming, or get on another plane after
his nearly fell out of the sky, then that is
what he’s going to do. Performance or
not, behind it all is something he cares
about deeply.
"It’s a really
obvious thing to
say, but the more
people know
too much about
who you really
are, the more
the mystery
is taken away
from the artist,
and the harder
it is for people
to believe that
person in a particular role."
- LEONARDO DICAPRIO
Satvigeers
now
The Revenant is another good example
of this. The whole crew rehearsed in
minus 20-degree weather for months
before filming began. Then there was
that scene where Leo, a staunch vegetarian, chewed and swallowed a mouthful of bloody bison liver because the
prosthetic didn’t look real enough. Or
the scene where he was carried down a
frigid river wearing close to 100 pounds
of heavy furs. The process of making
the film deliberately reflected the spirit
of the finished product man, nature
and suffering to some degree, the performance was real.
Leo’s currently working on another documentary – his second – about climate
change (“Original working title: Are we
all f*cked?” which Rolling Stone reported
and I am choosing to believe is not a
joke and he’s optioned the film rights to
the Volkswagen emission scandal.
He’s constantly looking for better ways
to tell stories about the natural world,
hoping that maybe our species isn’t
doomed to extinction, and that maybe
he can wake us up to the fact that we
will be if we don’t change. “I don’t
know how to crack this yet, but I would
love to do something that isn’t about
waves crashing on the Empire State
Building,” he told Rolling Stone.
While he may hope that you’re paying
attention, he’s not going to stop if you
aren’t. And that, I think, is how you
know he means it.
Save Tigers Now is a global campaign by World Wildlife Fund and
Leonardo DiCaprio to build political,
financial and public support. If you
want to help save the tigers visit,
SaveTigersNow.org and donate!
COVERSTORY //