On this sunny day in a dark room in a hotel on Wilshire Boulevard, DiCaprio's only buzz is the real biz - the world. He will meet you after a press conference, but not to linger over star chat. From sheer conviction he's made a "big home movie" about the oncoming crisis of global rupture due to climate change and bad species behavior (ours).
"I am not saying we have to change all our habits," says DiCaprio.
At 32, he is quite manly, a bit taller, and fuller than expected, but still speaks in rather boyish tones, echoing Echo Park. You can call that voice the drag anchor on his acting, or part of his enduring appeal to a vast, largely female audience.
In no way, finely dressed in chic but informal black, does he match what he calls "the old stigma of the environmentalist as tree-hugging, granola-eating hippie. Well, we can't all live that lifestyle, and why should we? This movie crosses all boundaries. It's for everyone."
Still, even with DiCaprio on screen, "The 11th Hour" is not an easy sell, given its complex clips ensemble and virtual crisis symposium of major experts.
"We met with many of the great visionaries of our time," he says, with a real note of humility. "Each one led us on to others, and they dictated the content and structure of the film. But we had to make something emotionally involving for people, and in just 90 minutes."
His investment was mainly time, and some locations, because "we even had people doing interviews on HD cameras in my mother's garage. These were mostly volunteers, people working for nothing or a pittance. Editing was the biggest job, for around a year and a half."
With his partners, the film's sisterly directors Nadia Conners and Leila Conners Petersen, DiCaprio rode herd on the documentary between more high-profile jobs like Scorsese's "The Departed." Far up on the A-list of fame and money, he "never saw this as benefiting me in any way except as a human being."
"I've respected nature ever since I was a kid," he explains, "when my mom took me to nature places where they took care of hurt and lost animals. It affected me in a hard-core, emotional way. ... Much later, about 10 years ago, I got into a room with Al Gore where he made what was happening in the world very clear. That made me want to be vocal and proactive."
Not just environmentally, he was for Gore in 2000 (and campaigned widely for Sen. John Kerry in 2004). But he insists that the movie is not any kind of partisan pitch from the left, "because it's really not about anyone's politics. We all win or lose on this. And the facts are really in."
Ask about current politics, and DiCaprio shies away like a pro seasoned on the hustings. He admits, "I'm still on the fence. I want to hear answers based on hard facts, not rhetoric, and I haven't heard anyone yet who inspires me."
As for friend and hero Gore, "I cannot speak for him. I think he feels he is making a tremendous contribution for change right now, not tied to the political system. He is so passionate about it."
In an almost shy-guy-at-the-prom way, so is DiCaprio. He has given serious money to environmentalism, given many speeches, even owns an island off Belize that "we plan - I'm just part of it - to develop as a green eco-resort. But that will take years."
When asked at the morning press conference about criticism at the Cannes festival of his using fuel-splurge corporate jets, a film partner came to his aid by saying that DiCaprio "usually flies commercial, when he can." But the star made his own case:
"I drive a hybrid car. My home is built green and has solar power. I can't really walk to work, given what I do. But you know, this movie isn't really about telling people how to live. We just want everyone aware, so they will make good choices within their means."
And he bridled over rhetorical pigeonholing:
"This stuff about (his habits) is a way of twisting the argument, deflecting away from the issues. There will be a lot more of that as we get the word out. Finally, everything will come from the will of the people."
Essentially, he feels "the timing is right. And it has to be now. We've talked about how Al Gore's film ('An Inconvenient Truth') brought all this to wide consciousness. And without that, I don't think it would be possible for many people to grasp this one.
"It wasn't the sheer numbers of people who saw Al's movie that made the impact; it was all the discussion it caused. And how it broke into the mainstream media as news. Our film expands on that in some capacity. It all flows together, as collective awareness."
The entire team "knew we had to end with positive ideas. Having educated myself on the issues, well, they're profoundly depressing and we don't pull any punches. I've been disillusioned by nature documentaries that end with, 'Mankind is playing a role in these problems, but hopefully we will solve them. Have a good night.'
"Still, after getting people to understand the true tragedy that could occur, we knew we couldn't leave them with that. All of us involved in this are inspired by the technologies. They could reduce our human footprint on the planet 80%, if we use them."
You ask if he saw a prophetic parallel in his star-making hit, "Titanic" (1997), in which a ship (the world) smug with invulnerability sailed to doom by flaunting nature. DiCaprio smiles with a glimmer of recognition.
"I suppose there were undertones of that movie I didn't understand at the time," he reflects. "But in a way I did, I think. It was about man overreaching, thinking he was indestructible in his safe cocoon. The ship was supposed to be fail-safe, then Nature came along with the iceberg."
Icebergs are still with us, for a time. The guy who so famously died due to one, and became a world star, now believes that "The 11th Hour" is the most important movie he will make:
"We are at the tipping point. This is the movement for my generation, and the next one, for a long time. Everyone wants a purpose, right? This is our purpose."
David Elliott: 619-293-1268; david.elliott@uniontrib.com.
