Miriam Margolyes has opened up about her unlikely friendship with Leonardo DiCaprio during the filming of Romeo + Juliet, including the moment she incorrectly assumed he was gay.
The 84-year-old actress told Mail columnist Bryony Gordon how she and the Hollywood star would spend hours shopping together in Mexico City markets, where DiCaprio’s choice to wear dresses led to an awkward misunderstanding.
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Margolyes praised DiCaprio’s ‘splendid’ acting and unique way of viewing the world, having met him when he was just 21 years old.
The national treasure sat down with the Daily Mail’s The Life of Bryony podcast to discuss her career and promote her new autobiographical book, The Little Book of Miriam.
‘I thought Leonardo DiCaprio was gay’, Margolyes joked.
‘He wore a dress, and I don’t know, you felt he was looking for comment. I think he likes people talking about him.
‘We were in Mexico City – and that’s what you do when you’re there, you go shopping. On set I said I wanted to go to the markets and Leo asked if he could come with me.
‘He came in a dress – I don’t know why he was wearing a dress, you’d have to ask him. I remember it was like a summer dress – it was hot that day.
‘I said to him: ‘I think you’re gay.’ He said to me: ‘I am not, I am not.’ I was insistent, saying: ‘I think you’ll find you are, you’re wrong.’
Miriam Margolyes has opened up about her unlikely friendship with Leonardo DiCaprio during the filming of Romeo + Juliet
In Luhrmann’s acclaimed 1996 adaptation of Romeo + Juliet, she played the Nurse alongside DiCaprio’s Romeo and Claire Danes’ Juliet
The national treasure sat down with the Daily Mail’s The Life of Bryony podcast to discuss her career and promote her new autobiographical book, The Little Book of Miriam
The actress was less diplomatic about other famous actors she has worked with, calling John Cleese ‘a bitter old man’
She had acted alongside future Monty Python creators John Cleese and Graham Chapman in Cambridge University’s prestigious drama society, Footlights
‘Anyway, he’s not gay. My gaydar was at fault there.’
Miriam fondly recalled working with a young Leonardo DiCaprio, describing him as a ‘jolly nice chap.’
In Luhrmann’s acclaimed 1996 adaptation of Romeo + Juliet, she played the Nurse alongside DiCaprio’s Romeo and Claire Danes’ Juliet.
The film has since become a beloved modern interpretation of Shakespeare’s classic tragedy.
Miriam said: ‘He was a very nice guy, a fine actor and a great shopping companion. I liked him a lot.
‘I like the way he looked at life and he was splendid in the film. Clare was wonderful too, remarkable even – so sweet and vulnerable.’
The actress was less diplomatic about other famous actors she has worked with, calling John Cleese ‘a bitter old man’.
She had acted alongside future Monty Python creators John Cleese and Graham Chapman in Cambridge University’s prestigious drama society, Footlights.
Miriam claimed the pair treated her with suspicion because she was a larger-than-life woman, refusing to talk to or even look at her during shows.
She explained: ‘In those days, Footlights didn’t have to accommodate women – like the rest of the university.
‘We were in a minority. We felt allowed to be there, rather than welcomed.
‘I have never felt like that about myself. I take up the space I take in the world, and I think it’s worth the same as anybody else’s space.
‘My mother was so thrilled that I was a part Footlights, she rang the Oxford Mail. She gave an interview about me; how great I was. I never asked her to do that.
‘The interview really got up John Cleese and Graham Chapman’s noses. They didn’t like me, and they showed that by refusing to talk to me or look at me off stage.
‘I have never forgotten it… I mean it makes no difference now. Graham’s dead and John is unfortunately, a bitter old man.
‘I’m still pissed off about it. I think that shows that I am not good at letting things go because it was 60 years ago.
‘I should let it go but I remember the pain, I remember the hurt. I remember how I would cry when I went home.’
To listen to the tell-all interview with Miriam Margolyes in full, search for The Life of Bryony now, wherever you get your podcasts.
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .