There’s Plenty To Like About Hot Young Star Dicaprio

When Leonardo DiCaprio arrived for the New York premiere of his new movie, “The Man in the Iron Mask,” last week, the scene was complete, utter, predictable lunacy.

Fans roiled behind barricades, screaming “Leo! Leo! Leo!” while the 23-year-old actor quickly made his way inside the Ziegfeld Theater. Just as he reached the entrance, the crowd surged forward, past the restraints, past the police, just so they could press their faces against the theater windows for one last glimpse of their favorite star.

At least this time DiCaprio could get into the theater. When “Titanic” premiered in Tokyo last November, he sneaked in the back door while director James Cameron created a diversion near the entrance.

“It was like being in a riot in Calcutta,” Cameron remembers. “The police couldn’t control all the fans. We were lucky to get out of there alive.”

That kind of kookiness simply verifies something we’ve known since “Titanic” opened 13 weeks ago. It’s Leonardo DiCaprio’s world, and the rest of us just either see his movies, buy his biographies or date (or live with) someone who does.

Need further proof we’re living in the Age of Leo? Here are some more reasons why we can’t seem to hide from the ray of light that is Leonardo DiCaprio.

Only Leo can sink “Titanic.” Every Monday for the past four months, we open the paper and we know what movie everyone went to see over the weekend. Nobody has been able to beat “Titanic.” Most films just hope to avoid being left in its wake.

That will change this weekend when “The Man in the Iron Mask,” starring you know who, opens. United Artists has been playing up DiCaprio’s presence while promoting the movie, placing the “Iron Mask” trailer in theaters showing “Titanic.” You can bet Leo’s teen fans have made the connection.

“It looks like it will beat ‘Titanic,’ ” says David Davis, an entertainment analyst with the investment firm of Houlihan, Lokey, Howard and Zukin. “It might just last for one week, but there’s an audience out there with an intense passion to see DiCaprio in another movie right now.”

Leo encourages his young fans to read. The only thing bigger than “Titanic” and John Grisham on the best-seller lists lately have been these two books, whose titles tell you all you need to know about their content - “Leonardo: A Scrapbook in Words and Pictures” and “Leonardo DiCaprio: Modern-Day Romeo.”

Next up: “Chicken Soup for the Leonardo DiCaprio Lover’s Soul.”

He has the power to change the title of movies. Last month, another film called “The Man in the Iron Mask” opened in Santa Monica. This caused some confusion for fans who showed up, bought a ticket and waited and waited … and … waited for their hero to appear on the screen. This, despite a sign outside the theater that read: Leonardo Dicaprio Is Not In This Film.

The movie’s writer-director, William Richert, finally tired of the complaints and changed the movie’s title to the concise and easily digestible “The Three Musketeers Meet the Man in the Iron Mask.” (Having heard the title, do we even need to see the movie?)

Apart from his I’ll-do-anything-to-get-into-movies debut in “Critters 3,” DiCaprio has never taken the low road when it comes to choosing his film projects. He consistently makes interesting choices - “This Boy’s Life,” “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?” “The Basketball Diaries.” And even when the movies fall completely apart (“Total Eclipse”), you can at least understand why he signed on in the first place.

“He wants to be an actor’s actor,” Cameron says.

Says DiCaprio: “I could have done sexual roles, but then you get into the teen-dream sort of thing. And teen comedies are so happy-go-lucky, they make you want to vomit.”

We love the guy for that quote alone.

He’s soooooo cute!!! Even if he has resisted the Tiger Beat hunk-of-the-month image, DiCaprio remains a favorite with teen-age girls, his biggest fan base. Consider this: Nearly half of all the women under 25 who have seen “Titanic” have seen it twice. And 76 percent of all people who have seen it twice plan to see it again.

He’s never bit anyone, punched a cop, been caught with a gun in his car’s glove compartment, served time for doing drugs or been seen walking down Ventura Boulevard yelling, screaming and babbling incoherently.

By all accounts, Leo is a stand-up guy. Or as Mark Wahlberg, his co-star from “The Basketball Diaries,” puts it: “He’s the most down-to-earth person I’ve met. Very un-Hollywood.”

And hooray for un-Hollywood has always been one of our favorite sayings.