Watch film trailers now »When it comes to choosing film roles, Leonardo DiCaprio is a man with a Midas touch.
Glossing over the excruciating Titanic, at 34 he's already worked with the likes of Baz Luhrmann, Martin Scorsese, taken the lead in the likes of The Beach and Blood Diamond and secured three Oscar nominations.
In between blockbusters, he has also become increasingly politically outspoken and with his latest film Body of Lies focusing on the ramifications of the outgoing president's "war on terror", DiCaprio, who plays CIA agent Roger Ferris, has much he wants to talk about.
"In a turbulent time like this, when the US is occupying the Middle East, you have a highly trained CIA operative who's very effective at what he does," he says.
"He's forged valuable relationships in the Middle East but he's not looking for that quick fix, the appearance of victory, he's looking for long-term solutions and he's trying to respect the culture and reach a positive result.
"Meanwhile, his country is constantly undermining him and usurping his intelligence and I feel like my character was operating in a higher moral context than his country would like him to and that's fascinating."
Starring alongside Russell Crowe, DiCaprio admits the film, which required him to learn Arabic and do his own stunts, was both physically and mentally demanding.
"You do walk away battered and bruised, but it's still a lot of fun," he says. "At one stage in the film, there is a graphic interrogation scene. We knew it was a pivotal moment in the movie, that it wouldn't have the same intensity or realism unless that sequence was authentic as possible.
"That was the scene I put the most thought and energy into. I talked to the ex-head of the CIA to find out what a person would do in this situation. It culminated in three-days shooting in a tomb."
Having first worked with Crowe on The Quick And The Dead when he was just 18, the set of Body of Lies was something of a reunion.
"When we first met, I remember talking to him about movies, the type of actor that he wanted to be, the type of films that he liked and he's the same guy he was back then," he says. "He's incredibly funny, committed, he's great to be around."
In January, Leonardo will team up with his Titanic co-star Kate Winslet again in the Oscar-tipped Revolutionary Road, directed by her husband Sam Mendes. Leo and Kate play a couple in 1950s America, struggling to make their relationship work.
"She's one of my best friends and we've been in communication a lot since Titanic and this project was one she had secretly been developing," he says.
"We both knew the territory very well and all the stuff
that would come with us working together again, but this was a unique piece of material. For a relationship movie, this was diametrically opposed to what we had done before."
But as DiCaprio steers talk back to the subject of the new US President, any nostalgia for his Titanic days seems to be long gone.
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