Romeo and Juliet actor Douglas Booth looking gorgeous in his Flaunt magazine feature.
Here’s what Douglas had to share with the Flaunt.
On admiring Leonardo DiCaprio
He is someone who has made interesting choices. He doesn’t make a million movies; he makes movies he wants to make with filmmakers he wants to work with. I respect him, and I respect the way he conducts himself. He’s very low-key. There was a time when all people would talk about were his looks and that he was a heartthrob and this and that, but actually, by making clever choices and delivering great performances, working hard, being in amazing films, and keeping himself out of that world, he doesn’t need it. I think that’s the way to do it.
On following in Leo’s footsteps in playing Romeo
I didn’t take the part deliberately to follow in his footsteps. I think it’s just a coincidence, but just to be mentioned in the same sentence as him is a compliment, I suppose. I saw that film [Baz Luhrmann's Romeo & Juliet] a long time ago and it’s amazing and DiCaprio is amazing in it, but they’re totally different films made by totally different filmmakers. We all know what Baz Lurmann is as a filmmaker. He’s very visually arresting. That film is like a big long MTV music video. It’s amazing and it’s fantasy and it’s glossy, but I think our film has a different feel. Julian Fellowes decided to set in the real place, so we filmed in Verona, Rome, and Mantua. I think the Italian landscape was a large character in the movie. It had such a personality.
On if he’d be interested in behind-the-scenes work
Not right now. I’m still learning how to act, so that’s something that is all very much in the future—to become involved in the industry in an interesting way and branch out and produce things that I’m not starring in. It’s good not to have too much freedom, in the sense that if you start trying to create all your own work then you’re missing out on everyone else’s genius.
