LEONARDO DICAPRIO PROFOUNDLY CHANGED BY AFRICA

Leonardo Dicaprio was profoundly changed by his experience in Africa while shooting Blood Diamond there.

Blood Diamond was filmed almost entirely on location in Africa setting the backdrop for Leonardo Dicaprio’s diamond seller who smuggles the precious stones mined in militia run Sierra Leone into London for a hefty price.

On the surface Leo spent quality time with the locals drinking beers with them, listening to their stories and getting down their accents, but he says he came away with a much deeper understanding of his own quality of life.

“And you can’t help but not be affected by the African people and the conditions there. It makes you leave that place realizing how fortunate you are as a person and how you really have nothing to complain about. I was blown away by the triumph of the human spirit there amongst this horrible AIDS epidemic that was going on in Mozambique and four out of 10 people with poverty and the orphaned children. You still see people literally dancing in the streets happy to be alive. Of course that isn’t to say a lot shouldn’t be done there but it makes you realize that we live blessed lives. I’ll never forget my experience there. It has changed me in a profound way.”

Blood Diamond which opens Friday also stars Djimon Hounsou as a Mende fisherman captured by the militia to fish for diamonds.