Leonardo DiCaprio has a new interview with The Sun. It’s one of those bizarrely-written pieces that The Sun is getting famous for – like, they just accumulate all of the quotes from a celebrity in an interview, and put it together like a first-person essay. I only hooked onto this piece because Leo is kind of making his dude-issues front and center. Meaning that he spends a lot of time talking about the main woman in his life: his momma. Now, I don’t hate momma’s boys as a general rule. And Leo does detail his mother’s lifelong struggles and why she’s the main woman in his life, and some of it is rather sweet. But he also talks about girlfriends and what “turns him on” in a woman, and it becomes increasingly clear that Leo isn’t going to be settling down any time soon, and why would he? He will never find a woman as awesome as his mom. Maybe he doesn’t realize it?

Leo on his mom: “My mom, Irmelin, taught me the value of life. Her own life was saved by my grandmother during World War Two. When she was a toddler a broken leg had landed her in a German hospital. Refugees and soldiers were also in the hospital and she ended up contracting several major illnesses and stayed for two and a half years. My grandmother (Helene, who died in 2008, aged 93) came every day and nursed her back to health — the nurses did not have time. They basically left her for dead. When you see a picture of her, it’s heartbreaking. It brings tears to my eyes knowing what she has been through in her life. I have a picture, her first photograph, with this tiny little skirt. She is emaciated with a big belly. She had a belly full of worms.”

Parental guidance: “You do need parental guidance and I was in a great position with both my mum and dad. They split when I was a baby but even though I stayed with my mom they were both very much involved in my upbringing. It means I can enjoy wide interests. It made me want to travel, scuba dive, collect art, take classes in art and every place I travel I check out the museums. I have enjoyed watching wildlife in Africa and South America, far from Hollywood. My mom also taught me to get everything in perspective. I never got to the point when I was mean and cruel to people.”

He’s a clown for hire: “”I realize that I do not change the course of history. I am an actor, I do a movie, that’s the end of it. You have to realize we are just clowns for hire. After I had success it was great, at first, not to worry about money. It was on my mind when I was growing up. Just being able to buy my grandmother some scarves she wanted and not have to think about it was a sign of good times. It sounds corny but it gave me happiness at the time.”

Leo’s loves: “My first love? Boy, I don’t even remember. I suppose if I’d found my true love I would be married right now, wouldn’t I?”

Leo‘s turnoffs: “Pretentious women really turn me off. Vindictive women, too. So do opportunistic women. I think what turns me on about a girl is what most men find attractive — which is something genuine about them. Being a good person.”

He did Titanic because of Kate Winslet: “Titanic? I would love to say I predicted it would be one of the biggest hits in film history. I didn’t — and wondered whether I should do it at all. I resisted it for a long time because I had been offered the film Boogie Nights (about the 1970s porn industry, a role finally taken by Mark Wahlberg). The fact that Kate Winslet said “yes” was the final decider. She was awesome. We were definitely shoulders for each other to lean on. We had to be partners on the film. All the complaining in the world was done between us two, so we did not have to vent it on anyone else. But I am so glad to be part of that movie. Years from now, people will still be watching that film. I am part of something historical, in a lot of ways. It gave me so many opportunities, as an actor, to steer the course of my own destiny. I was able to take both my mother and grandmother to the world premiere of Titanic in London — one of my proudest moments.”

[From The Sun]

So even though he’s dating someone – 22-year-old Erin Heatherton – he won’t call her a “true love” and Leo gives the impression that he’s still waiting for lightning to strike. If you were Erin, wouldn’t this be a signal that you’re his “Just For Now” Girl? As for Leo’s turnoffs – pretension, viciousness, opportunism…? And of course, you have to be genuine. A genuine supermodel, that is. Does Leo even believe what he’s shilling?

Photos courtesy of WENN.