In 1996, Baz Luhrmann’s colorful adaptation of Romeo and Juliet sparked a teen awakening. The vividly modern take on Shakespeare’s love story starred Claire Danes and Leonardo DiCaprio, marking the latter’s arrival as a burgeoning heartthrob before the staggering global success of Titanic.

Luhrmann, however, wasn’t familiar with DiCaprio when he was auditioning young actors for the role.

“When I saw Leonardo I thought, God, that’s how he should look. But can he act?” Luhrmann recently told iHeart Radio. “Then I found out he was the pre-eminent young actor.”

And he really was. By that point, DiCaprio had been acting for years, landing breakthrough roles in movies like This Boy’s Life and earning an Oscar nomination in 1993 for his work in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. But he couldn’t just coast onto the set of Romeo and Juliet—he had to work for the part. So a young DiCaprio flew out to Luhrmann’s native Australia for a rather creative audition that included a short film version of Shakespeare’s play.

“He came down to Australia and he brought all these friends and we made a whole video of the show with other actors,” Luhrmann says. “I won’t say who, it will never be seen; I realized that I couldn’t make it without him.”

He “brought all these friends,” hm? We can probably make some healthy guesses as to who those friends were, considering the the infamous squad, otherwise known as the “Pussy Posse,” with whom Leo was often seen in those days. The 90s cadre included actors like Tobey Maguire, Lukas Haas, and Kevin Connolly. Alas, these are just guesses. We have no idea whom DiCaprio really brought to Oz, and that footage will certainly be harder to find than, say, clips from Don’s Plum.

Anyway, please enjoy this clip of a young DiCaprio wearing a loose-fitting Hawaiian-print shirt and howling, “I defy you, stars!” He really was quite a good Romeo.