It’s been fifteen years since he wowed as Shakespeare’s most tragic lover, but Leo DiCaprio obviously still has a fondness for playing Romeo.
The 36-year-old, who took the lead opposite Claire Danes’s Juliet in Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 film, visited Verona in Italy - where the bard set his tragic tale of star-crossed lovers - with a new leading lady last week.
Gossip Girl star Blake Lively, 23 , was the lucky dame, and happily their trip looked to be filled with mundane sightseeing and levity, rather than inter-family enmity, duelling and procuring vials of poison.
Star-crossed lovers, Leonardo DiCaprio and Blake Lively walked in Romeo and Juliet’s footsteps in Verona
DiCaprio met Lively when she auditioned to play another tragic literary heroine - Daisy Buchanan in Luhrmann’s forthcoming adaptation of The Great Gatsby, opposite Leo in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s titular role.
Lively lost out to British treasure, Carey Mulligan, but a dinner with DiCaprio seems to have secured her the role of Leo’s girlfriend.
The manner of their meeting perhaps inspired Leo to treat Blake to a tour of the Montague and Capulet stomping ground.
She excitedly took pictures around the historic town, when the pair visited the ancient Roman ampitheatre Lively laughed as she took pictures of her new beau in full thespian mode.
And the new couple made sure to visit ’Juliet’s House,’ the Dell Capello home which features the famous balcony and is thought to have been the home of the real family who inspired the story of the Capulets.
But soft, what light through yonder window, Leonardo DiCaprio treats Lively to a private performance near the ampitheatre
Hopeful couples have for years written their names on the wall in the courtyard there, and touched the breast of the brass statue of Juliet for luck - so the new couple could’ve capitalised on this tradition.
They don’t need much help in the romance department, however.
Over the past few weeks, the pair have been seen in Cannes, Monaco and Portofino - enjoying a whirlwind of story-book dates.
They were first spotted dining at Saint Paul de Vence in the south of France, before taking a Mercedes back to a yacht docked in Cannes.
A week ago, they could be clearly seen hanging out with retail tycoon Sir Philip Green on his £32million Benetti superyacht Lionheart on the French Riviera.
Happy Ending, There was nothing tragic about these young lovers in Verona
Lively and DiCaprio’s apparent romance comes after it emerged he had split from Israeli model Bar Rafaeli.
A witness who saw the pair at their Portofino hotel recently said: ’She was wearing white and he was in a baseball cap. They walked around the grounds together. It looked like they were a couple.’
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It was confirmed earlier this month that Leo had split from Bar, a 25-year-old Sports Illustrated model after an on-off six-year relationship.
Rumours first surfaced that all was not well when he failed to accompany her to the Met Gala in New York a few weeks ago, instead spending the night at city hotspot Top of the Standard.
Seeing the sights, The couple in Verona City Centre during their tour
An insider told Grazia magazine: ’Blake is exactly Leo’s type. He likes leggy blondes with big smiles and Blake fits the bill perfectly.
’Leo and Bar have been through some rocky times recently and Leo is famously reluctant to settle down. The rumours around Blake and Leo won’t go away.’
Blake’s star is currently on the rise too after recently landing a role in Oliver Stone’s upcoming film Savages, alongside John Travolta, Salma Hayek and Uma Thurman.
She had a long term relationship with her Gossip Girl co-star Penn Badgeley but their three-year relationship ended last September.