Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes won over audiences with Romeo + Juliet, their modern adaptation of William Shakespeare’s most famous play.
The Titanic star and the Homeland alum played the titular doomed couple in the 1996 film, which also starred John Leguizamo (Tybalt), Harold Perrineau (Mercutio), Dash Mihok (Benvolio) and Paul Rudd (Dave Paris). Baz Luhrmann directed the movie from a screenplay that he wrote with Craig Pearce.
Romeo + Juliet cemented DiCaprio’s status as a heartthrob, but he did not land the role without proving himself first. “When I saw Leonardo, I thought, ‘God, that’s how he should look. But can he act?’” Luhrmann recalled to iHeartRadio in August 2016. “Then I found out he was the preeminent young actor.”
The filmmaker revealed that the Oscar winner flew to Australia to audition for the part, and his dedication paid off. “He came down to Australia and he brought all these friends and we made a whole video of the show with the other actors,” he explained. “I won’t say who, it will never be seen; I realized that I couldn’t make it without him.”
Danes, for her part, nearly lost out on her role to Natalie Portman. The Black Swan star was 14 at the time, while DiCaprio was 21, so the My So-Called Life alum was viewed as a more age-appropriate love interest for him.
“She’s a really mature girl for her age,” DiCaprio told Entertainment Weekly of Danes in September 1996. “She was the only girl when we did the audition who came straight in my face to do the lines. She said them looking at me right in the eye. And some of the other girls did, like, the affected flower thing. You know, they stroked their face and looked up and tried to do things with their eyelashes, and it was not nearly as truthful as Claire’s performance.”
Scroll through the gallery below to see where the stars of Romeo + Juliet ended up:
Leonardo DiCaprio (Romeo)
DiCaprio went on to become one of the most sought-after actors in Hollywood, starring in Titanic, Catch Me If You Can, The Aviator, Inception, Django Unchained, The Great Gatsby, The Wolf of Wall Street, The Revenant and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
In 2017, he started dating Camila Morrone, but the pair called it quits in August 2022. The actor moved on with Gigi Hadid in September 2022. Us confirmed the duo’s split in February 2023.
Claire Danes (Juliet)
Danes has maintained a steady career with a role on Homeland from 2011 to 2020 and in films Les Misérables, The Hours, The Family Stone and Temple Grandin.
The actress married Hugh Dancy in September 2009. They welcomed sons Cyrus and Rowan in December 2012 and August 2018, respectively. News broke in July 2023 that the couple’s third child, a baby girl, had arrived.
John Leguizamo (Tybalt)
The actor moved on to film roles in Moulin Rouge!, The Lincoln Lawyer, Ride Along and John Wick. He also starred on ER, The Kill Point, Bloodline, Waco and When They See Us. He is known for his voice work in projects such as Ice Age.
Leguizamo tied the knot with Justine Maurer in June 2003 after the arrivals of daughter Allegra in 1999 and son Lucas in 2000.
Harold Perrineau (Mercutio)
Perrineau has appeared in the Matrix franchise, Lost, Oz, Constantine, The Best Man, 28 Weeks Later, Zero Dark Thirty, Claws, The Rookie and Sons of Anarchy.
The actor married Brittany Perrineau (née Robinson) in August 2002. They welcomed daughters Aurora in September 1994, Wynter in May 2008 and Holiday in March 2013.
Dash Mihok (Benvolio)
Mihok later starred on Ray Donovan, Law & Order: Organized Crime, Felicity and Gotham. His film roles include The Perfect Storm, The Day After Tomorrow and Silver Linings Playbook.
The actor married Valeria Mason in 2009. The couple are parents of daughters Olivia and Cata.
Paul Rudd (Dave Paris)
Rudd was in the early days of his career when he starred in Romeo + Juliet. In the years that followed, he booked a role on Friends before starring in Ant-Man, Clueless, Wet Hot American Summer, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Role Models and I Love You, Man.
The actor tied the knot with Julie Yaeger in February 2003. Their son, Jack, arrived in 2006, while their daughter, Darby, was born in 2010.
Brian Dennehy (Ted Montague)
Dennehy continued acting in Death of a Salesman, The Big Year and The Seagull, while his TV credits include Just Shoot Me!, The Good Wife, Hap and Leonard and The Blacklist. He also resumed working in theater.
The Tony winner died in April 2020 of cardiac arrest at age 81. He was survived by his wife, Jennifer Arnott, and his five children.
Christina Pickles (Caroline Montague)
The actress was already guest-starring on Friends when she appeared in Romeo + Juliet, and she kept popping up on the sitcom throughout its run. She also had roles on Guiding Light, How I Met Your Mother, Great News, Break a Hip, Doubt and The Wedding Singer.
Pickles married Ian Masters in 2005. She shares two children, Oliver and Rebecca, with ex-husband Victor Lobl.
Paul Sorvino (Fulgencio Capulet)
Sorvino moved on to Money Talks, That’s Life, Mr. 3000, Still Standing, Rules Don’t Apply and Godfather of Harlem.
The actor wed Dee Dee Benkie in December 2014. Benkie confirmed in July 2022 that Sorvino died at the age of 83. He is survived by his three children — Mira, Michael and Amanda — whom he shared with first wife Lorraine Davis.
Diane Venora (Gloria Capulet)
The actress’ post-Romeo + Juliet credits include Hamlet, Threshold, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Private Practice and Cherish the Day.
Venora’s daughter, Madzia, was born in 1981.
Miriam Margolyes (The Nurse)
Margolyes has starred in the Harry Potter franchise, Chasing Liberty and The Guilt Trip, in addition to appearing on Call the Midwife and Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries.
The actress has been in a relationship with partner Heather Sutherland since 1968.
