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Leonardo DiCaprio’s Knowledge of the Diamond Industry Before Shooting the Film: “I think I was like anybody else. I had heard whispers of it, but until I got there and until I started to do the research I didn’t really quite understand the immense impact, certainly on Sierra Leone and other places in Africa. I had heard, certainly, the Kanye West song for example and bits of it in conversation, but it wasn’t until I really got to Africa where I heard the firsthand accounts and started to read the books and learn about it that I really learned what was really going on. What really had happened.”
The Response by the Diamond Industry to Blood Diamond: “I didn’t anticipate it, no,” said DiCaprio. “But when you approach situations like this, these are things that are based on real events and we are depicting a time in recent history where diamonds resulted in a lot of civil unrest in these countries. I had never anticipated, no, that that it would be this intense - by any means.”
DiCaprio on His Last Diamond Purchase: “I don’t remember the last time I have. My mom is the only person I would buy one for and she, for a while now, hasn’t wanted one. But that isn’t to say people shouldn’t… Look, these come from my conversations with Global Witness of Amnesty International. You have to go into the stores where you buy these diamonds and ask for a certificate. Ask for some authentication that this isn’t a conflict diamond. You have to, as a consumer, use your best judgment to say, ‘You know what? I believe you are being truthful in what you are saying. I see the document and you’ve proved to me this isn’t a conflict diamond.’ That’s one of the biggest ways this whole process can be stopped.”
DiCaprio added, “[Consumers] should just use their best judgment and ask the right questions, because ultimately diamonds are a source of economic stability in Africa. But what they are specifically trying to target are these conflict diamonds that have funded these sort of warlords and civil strife in Africa. It’s about stopping those specific diamonds.”
On His Intensity and Commitment: “I’ll tell you, quite honestly, it comes from being a fan of this art form – of film. It really is. I mean I think this is the great modern art form, in my opinion. There have been 100 years of cinema, but there is so much still to be done. I am a fan of movies and there is something about watching film that is burned into celluloid for all time, that is now a piece of history. You go watch, being a fan of classic films, and my children and their children are going to be watching these movies.
To make a great movie is such a combination of different things that need to come into play, to actually make a memorable film and not have a film to fall by the wayside, you know? To have something live on during the years… And one of those elements is the commitment the actors have to their performance. It doesn’t always come into play. There have been a lot of great performances in the past in films that weren’t great, but if you are lucky enough to get that combination together and be in a memorable movie, you know, that to me is like being a part of a piece of art that is going to last forever.”
The Role of Cinema in Terms of Influencing the Public: “I don’t think it’s too much to hope for at all. There is tremendous capability there,” said DiCaprio. “Certainly in the world of documentary, absolutely. I look at films like Fahrenheit 911 and numerous other films that have changed political climate. I think there is a tremendous role to be played in that respect.
Not to comment on this film or talk about how great this movie is, but I think this movie is the weird combination where you are able to get people into the audience, you are able to get people to get involved with a compelling story, and meanwhile they are getting this political message - and it isn’t hitting them over the head. They are going to absorb this social message, I believe anyway. Traditionally it’s been one thing or the other. I think this is one of those rare opportunities or combinations that is going to affect people like that and simultaneously while entertaining them.”
The Status of DiCaprio’s 11th Hour Documentary: “It’s something that I have been trying to do for many years. Ever since I started in this environmental work, I’ve wanted to do a documentary that really is an environmental checklist, that really encompasses every major environmental issue in the world – speaks to all the greatest experts.
A lot of times what bothers me about watching people talk about the environmental movement in the media is that you have one person who represents the minority; they are 5% of the collective great minds in the world - the greatest scientists and Nobel laureates. Then you have somebody else sitting on the other side of the chair that represents 95% of scientific thought. But when you are in a format being on the news talking about an issue like global warming, it becomes an argument. It becomes 50/50, when that’s not the case. So the idea for this is to give these people a platform to talk about environmental issues without the argument anymore, because we are beyond that.
And certainly I want to also mention An Inconvenient Truth. For me, being part of the environmental movement, I’ve never seen the issue of global warming become more a household term since that film. It really blew the lid off that issue. Talk about change from a film. It’s everywhere now. There is no generation that doesn’t know that issue.”
