Leonardo DiCaprio's favourite film is Chopper. No wonder he took to his Aussie co-star's work. Vince Colosimo talks about his time on set with the A-listers.

You star in Ridley Scott's new film, Body of Lies. Apparently he cast you after seeing you in Lantana, and checking your bona fides with Russell Crowe.



I knew Scott had seen Lantana -- and Chopper, I think. As he would, being close to Russell. They would have discussed me. He's seen work I'd done. And Russell -- I think we have a mutual admiration for each other, so it's good.

You play Leonardo DiCaprio's offsider, working in anti-terrorism in Jordan. Apparently he's a huge fan of Chopper. Did he pick your brains about that?

Yes, it's his favourite film. It took him a little while to go, "Hang on, you are that guy from Chopper." When someone takes a little while to recognise you from something, I find that flattering. Or maybe I just didn't have enough presence. Yeah, he picked my brain a lot and did a lot of lines and always asked me to do lines from the film. I found it quite flattering, then I went home and thought, I haven't asked him to do lines from any of this films -- maybe I should have. "King of the world" (Titanic) or something.

I'm sure he does a lot of accents very well but his Australian accent left a lot to be desired. He always sounded South African, which I suppose has a lot to do with Blood Diamond.

He was lovely. We got on well. We're not pen pals or anything but it was nice that everyone got along very well.

Crowe talks about one scene in which you were thrown down a rubbish-strewn hillside and came up smelling less than fresh.

I don't know how he got that story, he wasn't even there. But, yes. I was kicked and spat on and pushed down a hill. It was rubbish that had been brought in, but they didn't bring in the dirt and a lot of sheep had been around. At the end of a very long night I asked Leo for a hug and he wouldn't give me one, but he did say, "You get to use my trailer. I draw the line there. If someone's covered in s--- they get to use my shower." So I got to use Leo's shower in his trailer.

Has Body of Lies led to any other job offers?

I find it hard to say a particular job got me this job or that job, though I suppose Chopper and Lantana made people aware of me over there. When I worked on The Practice someone told me Michelle Pfeiffer had seen Lantana and said to her husband, David E. Kelley, "Have you seen this guy?" Apparently that's the story of how I got that gig.



They're good stories when you don't have to audition. So if Body of Lies is an asset for something else down the line, then great. I suppose when you're associated with Ridley Scott, people tend to sit up and take a little more notice, and hopefully for the right reasons.

Were you in the US auditioning when this job came up?

No. I was at home in Melbourne on a Sunday when I got a phone call.

What's happening with the Underbelly prequel?

You probably know more about that than I do, you're the Herald Sun. I swear to God I don't know much about it, but I wish someone would print the fact that the first instalment of Underbelly is set in 1975 to '85. It's going back 20 years.

If that does well, and hopefully it will, then they'll greenlight the next part of it, which is '85 to '95. That would be when my character gets a lot more involved. I don't think I'm part of the first one at all. It's 20 years ago.

Many people were shocked when your character, Alphonse Gangitano, was killed off in episode two after you'd been such a big part of the marketing campaign for the show.

That started it off. You had to get a killing in there pretty early because there was a lot to go. Leave them wanting more rather than outstay your welcome. It was weird. A lot of people came up to me saying, "I can't believe you're already gone". But it's good. It still had impact. I felt that character had great impact. People never forgot it and they talk about those first two episodes with a lot of fondness, so I can't really complain. It would have been great to be in it a little longer and stay on the set, but in the end I was happy with what happened.

Does it bother you you're now so associated with Alphonse?

That was a character I played. I play a lot of different characters. It shouldn't have a bearing on your life forever and a day. That guy was corrupt, he was undercover, he was underworld, he was shady, which I am not.

Have you read Chopper Read's recent criticism of you? He claims you send back champagne in Lygon St restaurants if it's not to your liking.

He seemed to say a lot about me for someone who's never met me. That's fine. I'm not about to get into a war with him because I don't play those games. But I found it quite surprising that he knows I go to restaurants in Lygon St -- which I never do -- and that I turn back French champagne. I would never send back French champagne. If I was lucky enough to have French champagne come to my table over dinner in Lygon St, no way in a million years would I send it back. Whatever tickles his fancy, that's all fine. He ain't really hurting me so it doesn't really matter.

What's happening to the Fred Schepisi film Last Man that you're meant to be doing with Guy Pearce and Simon Baker?

There's no confirmation on that. There's no talk of that film yet. I had a meeting a long time ago with Fred and said I was very interested and that's all it is. Hopefully a director like that with the cast that he wants would mean that film can be made in this country. It would be fantastic.

What do you say when people ask you for advice about being an actor?

When someone comes up to me and says, "Vince, I'm thinking of being an actor. What do you reckon?" I say no, straight out no, don't do it. They ask why. I say, "Because you had to ask me." I didn't have to ask anyone if I should be actor. I just pursued what I wanted to do after I was given a shot.

Body of Lies is now showing.

Originally published as Colosimo kicks back with star crowd