Reporter： Leonardo DiCaprio plays the 1）title role of J. Gatsby， a handsome 2）social climber trying to win the heart of a married woman. Its not the first time Leo and Baz have teamed up. Indeed， DiCaprios career took off when Luhrmann cast him as the lead in Romeo and Juliet back in 1996. Now， theyre at it again.

Leonardo DiCaprio： I look at being an actor as an incredible opportunity. I think that its almost like winning the 3）lottery in a lot of ways.

Reporter： Hollywood breeds a lot of stars， but there are very few great actors. Do you see yourself in that small 4）elite group？

Leo： I would never say something like that.

Reporter： At 38， Leonardo has already played an impressive and diverse cast of characters， from 5）heartthrob to 6）villain. DiCaprio has backed up his good looks with serious acting 7）prowess. Now hes taking on one of the gigantic characters of 20th century American literature， The Great Gatsby.

Leo： This is one of the most celebrated novels in the world. It…it is， you know， arguably the greatest American novel.

Reporter： Was it 8）intimidating playing J. Gatsby？

Leo： You know， everyone has their own connection with this book， and so， youre almost setting yourself up for disaster in a lot of ways. （laughing）

Reporter： 9）Invariably therell be comparisons with the last time Hollywood took on the celebrated novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald， when Robert Redford played the leading role. Expectations are huge， not only for DiCaprio， but also for Australian director Baz Luhrmann.

Baz Luhrmann： I knew that I had to do it because its always relevant—that book—but it was particularly relevant now. The 20s was a period， a golden 10）orgy of money， you know， womens skirts went up， 11）skyscrapers went up， you know. Everything was going up. The stock market was going up， and it looked like， you know， aeroplanes， cars， it would never fall， but Fitzgerald， in his book， which was published in 25， he predicts its all going to crash.

Reporter： The movie is set in 1920s New York， but it was filmed in Harbourside， Sydney. And while in Australia， Leonardo attracted as much attention for his romantic pursuits as his acting efforts.

Leo： Im quite used to that kind of stuff. I didnt find it hard at all. （laughs） You know， look， I mean， we were shooting a major production in…in Australia， and there wasnt really anything that horrible said.

Reporter： Gatsby is the latest 12）collaboration between DiCaprio and Luhrmann. They first worked together when Leo was a baby-faced teenager in Romeo and Juliet.

Luhrmann： He was a boy. Now hes a man， and hes a man fully in control of his powers as an actor， but I think there are few people on the planet who have had his life， you know. I can work with， you know， a technician， a director of photography， he can be 60， and you still know that Leonardo has spent more time on film sets than that person， because Leonardo was on film sets since he was a six-year-old.

Leo： You know， the truth is that I remember saying as a very young kid， ‘I wanna become an actor.

Reporter： And thats 13）single-mindedly what he did， scoring his first roles in a number of commercials. He then 14）learnt the ropes on television shows before making a break into feature films.

Leo： I just said to myself one day， hopefully， Ill try to do something as good as these great heroes that I want to 15）emulate.

Reporter： Many child actors do go on to become cautionary tales. They get caught up in 16）booze， drugs…

Leo： You know， I think that its never been something that…that Ive 17）gravitated towards really. I think Ive gotten to be able to pursue my own dream and its something that， you know， Ive a great amount of respect for， so thats been really my main focus.

Reporter： That focus paid off 18）big time when he starred as Jack Dawson in Titanic alongside Kate Winslett. It was a role that made DiCaprio a global superstar. Titanic is what really 19）put you on the map， yet ever since then you seem to be avoiding the romantic leading roles. Why is that？

Leo： I dont think Ive ever avoided them so much as I never questioned what Im subconsciously attracted to as an actor. Its never been an 20）aversion to doing a love story or any 21）genre of movie. Im happy to try anything. I just sort of subconsciously gravitate towards subject matter， and I never question why， and I just go for it.

Reporter： In a 22）notoriously superficial industry Leo has kept the same tight circle of friends since he was a boy， including his co-star in The Great Gatsby， Toby Maguire. This is an actor at the top of his game who can pick and choose his roles. He keeps his counsel to his inner circle， and appears utterly unfazed by how anyone judges him.

Leo： I strive to be the best actor I can be， and whether Ive achieved that is always， you know， up to the audience and critics to…to decide. I dont…I dont have any power over that， and thats the one thing about making movies thats always frightening and 23）exhilarating is that you can go into it with the best possible 24）intent， work as hard as you possibly can， and people， for whatever reason， may just disconnect with the movie， and thats…and youre powerless to that. You really are. All you can do is really show up on set and， you know， work as hard as you possibly can， and thats…that I can say that I do.

记者：莱昂纳多·迪卡普里奥（在《了不起的盖茨比》里）饰演影片中的角色杰伊·盖茨比，一位设法挤入上流社会的英俊男人，企图赢取一位已婚女士的芳心。里奥和巴兹并不是第一次合作，迪卡普里奥的演艺生涯真正飞跃是在1996年鲁赫曼请他领衔主演《罗密欧与朱丽叶》的时候。如今，他们又再度合作。

莱昂纳多·迪卡普里奥：我把成为一名演员看作是不可思议的机会，我认为那几乎就像是通过很多方式赢得的彩票。记者：好莱坞孕育了很多明星，但是伟大的演员却不多，你认为自己是这个人数不多的精英队伍中的一员吗？

里奥：我从来不会说这样的话。

记者：三十八岁的莱昂纳多饰演了多个给人们留下了印象深刻的角色，从情人到恶棍，迪卡普里奥以认真的表演实力证明了自己不是徒有俊朗的外表。现在，他在一部20世纪的美国文学巨著——《了不起的盖茨比》（改编的电影）里饰演其中一个很重要的角色。

里奥：你知道，这是世界上最著名的小说之一，也可以说是美国最伟大的小说。

记者：出演杰伊·盖茨比一角可怕吗？里奥：你知道，每个人都跟这本书有点关系，所以你几乎都会在许多方面让自己陷入灾难的境地。（笑）

记者：弗·司各特·菲茨杰拉德的著名小说再次被搬上银幕，不可避免地要与好莱坞上次拍摄的相比较，此前由罗伯特·雷德福担纲主演。这次的期望是巨大的，不仅仅是因为迪卡普里奥，还因为澳大利亚导演巴兹·鲁赫曼。

巴兹·鲁赫曼：我知道我必须要把这本书搬上银幕，因为它一直与现实相关，尤其与现在相关。20世纪20年代这段时期是一个挥霍金钱尽情狂欢的黄金年代，你知道，女士们的裙子更短，摩天大楼更高，股票涨得更高，所有一切都在飞速发展。你知道的，比如飞机、轿车，就好像一切都不会倾覆。然而菲茨杰拉德却在1925年出版了这本书，他在书中预言一切都会毁灭。

记者：该电影是以20世纪20年代的纽约作背景，却在悉尼的哈伯赛德完成拍摄。在澳大利亚期间，莱昂纳多的浪漫情事和他的卖力演出同样受到关注。

里奥：我很习惯演这类题材，一点也没觉得困难。（笑）你知道的，我的意思是我们是在澳大利亚拍摄大型影片，真的没有传说中那么恐怖。

记者：《了不起的盖茨比》是迪卡普里奥和鲁赫曼最近的一次合作，他们第一次合作是在电影《罗密欧与朱丽叶》中，当时里奥还是个有着娃娃脸的青少年。

鲁赫曼：他当时是个孩子，现在已经是个男人，是个能完全游刃有余地表演的男人，但我觉得这个世界上很少有人有他类似的人生经历。我可以跟技师或摄影导演合作，即使他已经60岁，你知道莱昂纳多在片场上花的时间仍然比这个人多，因为莱昂纳多6岁就开始在片场拍戏了。

里奥：你知道，事实上我还记得儿时说过的一句话：“我想成为一名演员。”

记者：就因为他对事业的专注，使他获得一系列商业广告的角色。他就是通过电视表演找到窍门才突破去出演故事片。

里奥：有一天我对自己说，希望通过努力，追赶上那些出色男主角的成就。

记者：很多童星的确不断成为别人的警世故事，他们深陷酗酒、吸毒……

里奥：你知道，我认为自己真的不会有这些倾向。我想我还要去追逐自己的梦想，那是我非常景仰的东西，也是我真正专注的事情。

记者：这份专注让他赢得了巨大的成功，他在《泰坦尼克号》里饰演男主角杰克·道森，女主角由凯特·温丝莱特担任。正是这个角色把迪卡普里奥造就成为国际巨星。《泰坦尼克号》让你真正一举成名，然而你从此似乎在避免饰演爱情片的男主角。为什么会这样？

里奥：我认为自己从来没有避开这些角色，甚至没有质疑过自己潜意识里演哪一类角色最吸引人。我从来不会讨厌演爱情片或任何类型的电影角色，我很乐意尝试任何角色。我只是潜意识里倾向于某些题材的电影，我不知道为什么，就是喜欢而已。

记者：在人尽皆知、虚情假意的娱乐行业里，里奥仍维持着他儿时以来一众关系紧密的朋友，包括和他共同出演《了不起的盖茨比》的托贝·马奎尔。里奥是电影行业里的佼佼者，他可以选择自己的角色。他把辩护律师列入自己的核心朋友圈，无论谁评判他，都以绝对泰然自若的面貌示人。

里奥：我尽我所能做一个最好的演员，你知道，无论我取得多大成就都是由观众和评论家去决定，我无权凌驾在上面。演电影总是让人又惊又喜的就是你可以带着最美好的愿望全情投入其中，尽最大努力演好角色，然而人们，无论是什么原因，可能觉得电影（与他们的想象）脱节。对此，你是无能为力的，真的是这样。你能做的就是真正出现在片场拍戏，竭尽所能做好本分，那是我肯定要做到的事情。