Leonardo DiCaprio’s new wax version at Madame Tussauds looks pretty close to the real thing. He’s even got that little shadow goatee, and I love the little half-smile on his face. The best part of these pictures is the goofy chick hanging all over the statue. You know I would be doing that too and generally making an ass of myself if I was confronted with a life size replica of DiCaprio, or pretty much any other halfway decent looking male celebrity. It’s kind of instinctual, like how women whoop it up with their friends when there are strippers around while men get all quiet and glassy eyed.

DiCaprio is shooting a new film with Russell Crowe soon, in which they play CIA agents caught up in the Middle East conflict. His film about the environmental crisis, The 11th Hour, opens in theaters tomorrow. He told MTV news that he hopes that people see his films and learn something:

And as DiCaprio has become more concerned with world affairs, his choices of films like “Diamond” and the global-warming documentary “The 11th Hour” have allowed the young star to speak his mind — a trend he hopes to continue by using the untitled CIA flick to explore thorny Iraq war issues close to his heart.

“This is the way that people are educated about issues nowadays. This is the main avenue for learning in today’s world,” he said of the movies. “I would just hope that enough people go to see them, so the studios will be encouraged to make more films like that in the future and that there is an audience for them and they are profitable.”

[MTV.com]

I do agree that if you have a platform like film you should use it to educate people, but movies are generally for entertainment. I would say the “main avenue for learning in today’s world” is the Internet as it’s more participatory and self-driven, and pretty much contains anything you’re interested in learning about, including the intimate often-fabricated details of celebrities’ lives. That’s just my own personal bias I guess.

Leonardo DiCaprio’s new waxwork at Madame Tussauds made its debut in London, England today to the delight of giddy women everywhere. (There’s my personal bias again.)

Thanks to WENN for these pictures.