CAMILA MORRONE On love and work
The model and actress talks growing up in Hollywood, her famous ‘stepdad’ and dating Leonardo DiCaprio
Before she was linked to Leonardo DiCaprio in December 2017, few people would have recognised the name Camila Morrone. But, as it turns out, the 22-year-old model and actress is paving her own way in Hollywood, with her film Mickey and the Bear set to be released later this year. In addition to dating veteran actor DiCaprio, 44, Morrone comes from acting blood herself as the daughter of actor/ model Maximo Morrone and actress Lucila Solá, who was in a relationship with Al Pacino. “I’ve only done three films over the past three years … the ultimate goal is being in a position that I can pick and choose the roles that I want to play,
and that inspire me,” Morrone tells WHO.
Despite being surrounded by a wealth of industry knowledge, the LA-born beauty, whose parents are from Argentina, says she refrains from asking DiCaprio for acting tips. “I actually stopped going to people close to me for advice, and now I train with an amazing acting coach, and I read all my scripts with them,” Morrone says. “I just like to keep my work stuff separate because I don’t want my mum on set, I don’t want my friends on set, I just like it to
be my little thing.” However, when Morrone booked her first movie (James Franco’s Bukowski in 2013) she reached out to Pacino, who she refers to as her ‘stepfather’. “I had never asked him for anything, but I called him, and I said, ‘I don’t know what I just did, I just booked a huge movie on accident, I did not know that was going to happen, and I have no idea what to do’,” Morrone reveals. “He actually extended a hand and read the script with me. His advice was just to act. And I was, ‘that’s it?’ but it worked great for him, we’ll see how it works for me [laughs].”
Morrone hinted her independence stems from growing up in separate households with divorced parents. “I’ve always wanted to make my own money, to have a career, to not be dependent on a man, although there’s nothing wrong with that, that was just my trajectory,” she says. “So 14, 15 I started working and saving all of my pennies in the piggybank so when I was 18 years old, I could get my own apartment in New York.”
But that doesn’t mean Morrone doesn’t envision a happily ever after for herself. “I think the illusion of parents staying together for the rest of my life, at a very young age, went away [but] I do still believe in fairytales and living happily ever after so I would
definitely want that for myself.”
In addition, Morrone adds, she’d love a “big household, lots of kids and being able to balance a career and a family because I think you can … Growing up as an only child of divorced parents I always missed that big family element and having people at your house and siblings.”
Being thrust into the public eye thanks to her relationship with DiCaprio – and their 22-year age gap – Morrone concedes that at times she has to simply ignore the opinions of strangers. “I try to not read things because I never end up with a smile on my face. As a human I think that these things do affect you whether you acknowledge them or not.”
But would she change anything about her rising fame if she had the choice? “Overall it allows you to do what you want to do so I don’t really focus on the negative things. I definitely do feel a little bit more prepared for that perhaps because I grew up in Hollywood. I lived all around LA my whole life – you see Brad Pitt at the coffee shop, it’s not really like a normal thing for most humans. “I can go anywhere in the world and I feel like I’ve seen it all. I’ve seen all the craziness and I can handle it.”