The Inspirations, Ugly Truths, and Things That Make You Go “Huh?” for Under A Melting Sun
D is for DICAPRIO
Leonardo DiCaprio. The things I could say about this man. My crush on him dates back to his Growing Pains days, and to put things in perspective, I was 7 when it went off air. That’s how long I’ve been harboring my feelings for him. It’s practically been a relationship, with the only problem being that he doesn’t know. 😛 The closest chance I could have had in meeting him was when one of my cousins went on a date with him back in his Titanic days, and unfortunately I didn’t even know about it until afterwards. 😦 Story of my life.
So as everyone knows, Leo is a brilliant actor. He can depict all kinds of characters, along with their appropriate accents. For my story, Leo is who I’ve pictured as Arthur Conwell, the sidekick to the main character. Although all the characters in this story are complex, Arthur is the most complicated. On the surface, he’s very adventures which can be mistaken for being flighty. He had taken off when he was 14 to participate in the Great War, he abandons Reese in the Amazon for the first part of the story for personal reasons, and he’s literally in and out of scenes constantly. He has no family left except for his cousin Thora Lowry, and although he takes his research seriously, he acts like he has no responsibilities and no one to answer to because he’s so all over the place.
However, underneath he’s a very troubled person. He saw the trench warfare at a young age, and he’s watched members of his family die off for different reasons. He uses the adventure streak as a cover up for the fear that he has built up within himself, and its this fear that causes him to make rather poor decisions throughout the story. At first, he seems fun and a little impulsive, but as the story progresses he acts like he’s running from something that later turns him from being considered a dumbass to a very tragic figure. It’s because of that complexity and emotional changing throughout the story that Leo came to mind. He’s one of the few actors who can successfully adapt to any story line, and can be both quirky and funny yet powerful and dramatic, which became very inspiring when I wanted a character in Under A Melting Sun to be just like that.
But in the overall scheme of things, the best way to sum up Arthur is that he’s a deeply pained character who tries to hide it all with a smile. Because of that, this clip is the best example as to why I used Leo as his muse.
Why it may deter you: Because of the evolution of the character, going from fun to mean to heartbreaking will twist your emotions. I’ve even had a hard time writing his character because sometimes I hate him for how he acts but then feel so sorry for him because of why he’s acting that way. There’s a complete underlining reason for everything he does, and that painful awareness that readers will face towards the end of the story will make it a tear-jerker.
Why it may not deter you: Because it’s Leonardo DiCaprio, and as Leonardo DiCaprio fans, we are not easily deterred. I mean, look at how many Oscar-shunned performances he’s done! Talk about never giving up. You can praise him as much as you want for his environmental efforts, but the fact that he still does amazing performances without getting the full credit he deserves is incredible. Gotta pat this guy on the back for not letting a little golden man ruin his passion and goals. Also, and going back to my book, for readers who like things to be gray instead of just basic black and white and stereotypical, you’d enjoy reading it.
A. M. Dunnewin 