This Much Is True

His partner in life and in the film was Catherine Martin — CM. She’s one of the most remarkable designers I’ve ever known; quiet and unassuming, she’s not a ‘performer’ in any way, but her ferocious imagination is able to call into being the most amazing sets and costumes. CM is Baz’s parallel genius and, to his credit, he knows that.

We flew en masse to Mexico — many of the scenes were shot at the famous Churubusco Studios.

I fell in love with Mexico City. It’s a fascinating, colourful and frenetic place, full of museums, art galleries, concert halls, and a vibrant culture of music and dance and art — and superb restaurants. Fossicking around flea markets, and junk and antique shops, is one of my favourite hobbies and Mexico City is a paradise from that point of view. Everyone on set fell head over heels for Leonardo DiCaprio, from Baz to Claire. I liked him tremendously and admired his work, but luckily I was immune to his groin charms. And I think he might have found that refreshing. He preferred me as a shopping companion. Like me Leo was into bling in a big way. We’d spend hours going through the markets together — I don’t know that I’ve ever had such fun. Now, he’s grown into a fine actor but, back then, he was just a handsome boy who didn’t always wash; he was quite smelly in that very male way some young men are. Sometimes he wore a dress. I said to him: ‘Leo, I think you’re gay.’ He burst out laughing and said, ‘No, I’m not, Miriam. I’m really not gay.’ I insisted, ‘I think you’ll find you are.’ But I was wrong. He did it to be talked about — much as I did when I smoked my pipe at Cambridge.

Of course, he had far more money than anybody else, but he was always generous. He was a kid who wanted to have his young friends around, so he invited them to come and stay at the hotel at his expense. There was a whole group of boys and girls hanging out there, laughing and joking, and he was the leader of the gang. I remember Sara Gilbert (from the Roseanne show) coming to stay. Claire wasn’t invited to join their shindigs however; I guessed she felt a bit left out, but always conducted herself with dignity. Her parents came to Mexico and stayed for the whole shoot to keep her company. They were delightful people.

Baz was completely committed to the project and determined to get every single thing that he’d asked for on his production. For example, he had ordered a huge glass tank of water to be built at the studio at vast expense. In the film, there are some beautiful shots of Romeo and Juliet looking through that tank. One day, while they were filming, it cracked and all the gallons of water poured out. Baz demanded that it be replaced just as it was. The big cheeses from 20th Century Fox had been getting increasingly agitated about the mounting bills, and they came down to the set from LA to remonstrate: ‘We just can’t run with this, Baz. This schedule is way over; you’re going to have to moderate your requests.’ But Baz was implacable: ‘If you don’t give me what I want for this essential scene, I’m walking.’ From that point on, he had free rein. And he was right: that scene with the tank became iconic and is what people remember.

Claire Danes was only seventeen and, just by the way she looked at him, it was obvious to all of us that she really was in love with her Romeo, but Leonardo wasn’t in love with her. She wasn’t his type at all. He didn’t know how to cope with her evident infatuation. He wasn’t sensitive to her feelings, was dismissive of her and could be quite nasty in his keenness to get away, while Claire was utterly sincere, and so open. It was painful to see. When I was binge-watching Homeland later, I kept thinking about her as that lovesick young girl. She was so guileless. Recently, I was in a restaurant and she came up to me and said, ‘I hope you don’t mind my saying hello. We worked together on a film once, I don’t know if you remember me? My name is Claire Danes.’ It was the opposite of the arrogant behaviour of some stars, and so typical of her. I have seen Leonardo since too. We met up when he was in Australia making The Great Gatsby and had a great chat. Also, this time he smelt divine, I’m happy to report.