DOUGLAS BOOTH is tired of talking about his looks. Cinema's new Romeo does not want be judged for his aesthetically pleasing appearance, he has something far more cerebral on his mind: Shakespeare.
"As the nurse tells Juliet in the play: 'You have such great taste in men.' Shakespeare wrote about his looks, he wanted Romeo to look a certain way and to be beautiful," Booth told us. "But how I look is drawn into every conversation I have with every journalist. I didn't think about it, Romeo's not vain - and neither am I. They didn't have many mirrors in those days."
Booth plays opposite Hailee Steinfeld in Julian Fellowes's film incarnation of Romeo and Juliet, the first traditional version of Shakespeare's most famous love story to be made in over 50 years. The couple are closer in age to the playwright's original characters than any actors have been before - Booth was 19 when the film was shot, while Steinfeld was just 15 - compared to 17 and 13 in the play.
"It was nice to come at it from a new angle and look into the innocence of it," said Booth. "It's about first love, that stripped crazy feeling that I - and I'm sure you - felt when I first fell in love. It's this mad feeling, you can't understand what it is, you don't know which way's up, you don't know which way's down. You just think, 'What is happening to me?' You start feeling all these things, these chemicals that start flowing through your body. It's the most confusing, most exhilarating, most painful thing I have ever felt. People say how they just meet, fall in love and then top themselves all in such a short space of time, but I just think, 'Do you not remember being in love for the first time?' Just take it to the extreme."
So although relaying the intense feeling of first love wasn't too much of a challenge for the 21-year-old former Burberry model, the prospect of taking on Romeo was more intimidating - despite impressively beating 300 actors to the part. Baz Luhrmann's version of the tragic story is "untouchable" in Booth's eyes, made even more daunting by the fact that Leonardo DiCaprio - who played Romeo - is his career idol, someone who was also plagued by the hazards that come with high cheekbones and pouty lips.
"If I could die being half the actor he is, I'd die a happy man," he said. "He's someone who has braved the spectrum of things. When he was young he was seen as this heartthrob, everyone talked about his looks, but he knew that he didn't want that for himself - he went for the work. He has the perfect balance of creative achievement and personal success."
But why do we need another version of Romeo and Juliet? Booth argues that this adaptation is very different to anything we've seen recently - noting Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 film and also Luhrmann's fast-paced spectacle.
"The first time you see Romeo in the Zeffirelli version - which is so romantic and beautiful - he's walking along a path, twirling a flower. You think, 'Ok cool, but what 17-year-old boy does that?'" asks Booth. "Luhrmann's film is visually stunning - and I don't mean this in a bad way - but it's like an extended MTV music video. It's fun, crazy and romantic, but sometimes I didn't quite connect to the things that were being said, because it was out of context."
According to Booth, Fellowes's film focuses on the relationships that exist outside of Romeo and Juliet - with supporting roles of the friar and Juliet's nurse played less like "caricatures". However, the interpretation has been criticised by some journalists, who have questioned Fellowes's decision to add his own Shakespearian-style lines into the script.
"Julian has tried to edit and sculpt an engaging cinematic piece for a modern audience," said Booth. "Some purists will get upset about how he's merged and worked it, and I'm prepared for that. Most of Shakespeare's beautiful text is still there, and certainly most of the story."
Prior to Romeo and Juliet, Booth has played an eclectic range of roles - from Boy George in a BBC drama to Pip in Great Expectations, alongside his rumoured girlfriend Vanessa Kirby - who played his character's on-screen love, frosty Estella. His next projects include Darren Aronofsky's biblical retelling of Noah, which co-stars Russell Crowe and Emma Watson. But before he leaves boyish Romeo behind him, what advice would he offer the ill-fated couple?
"[They should have] talked more," he said. "Communication is important. The friar's advice is right, 'Too much honey is delicious, but it makes you sick to your stomach.' It's great to fall head over heels in love at a fast pace, and nothing's more romantic, but you need to look after yourself. Don't top yourself, it's not worth it. You may have a broken heart, but you may find someone else."
