Miriam Margoyles once asked Leonardo DiCaprio if he was gay: ‘Sometimes he wore a dress’

Words: Jamie Tabberer; picture: ITV/Sony Pictures Releasing

Miriam Margoyles has described the time she speculated about Leonardo DiCaprio sexuality – to his face – because the then-rising star liked to wear dresses.

Oh Miriam… never change!

The actors worked together on Baz Luhrmann hit film Romeo + Juliet, costarring Claire Danes, back in 1996.

“He did it to be talked about”

Miriam, who played the role of the nurse in the film, recalls in her new memoir This Is Much Is True: “Leonardo has grown into an extremely fine actor but back then he was just a handsome boy who didn’t always wash; he was quite smelly in that very male way some young men are.”

The star, also known for the Harry Potter films, added: “Sometimes he wore a dress. ‘Leonardo, I think you’re gay,’ I said. He laughed and said, ‘No Miriam. I’m really not gay.’ But I was wrong. He did it to be talked about — much as I did when I smoked a pipe as an undergraduate at Cambridge.

The 80-year-old continued: “We filmed in Mexico City, paradise for someone like me who loves fossicking around flea markets and antiques shops, and, like me, Leonardo was into bling in a big way, too. 

“We’d spend hours going through the markets together. I don’t know that I’ve ever had such fun.”

Sounds it! 

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