Natalie Portman got fired from starring opposite Leonardo DiCaprio because 'it wasn't appropriate'

Parting is such sweet sorrow, alas Natalie Portman and Leonardo DiCaprio weren't meant to be starring alongside one another in a 1996 release.

Before his Titanic days, Leonardo DiCaprio was shattering hearts aged 21 appearing in Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet.

While he ultimately starred opposite Claire Danes, aged 17 at the time, what many fans of the movie may not know is the role of Juliet nearly ended up being played by Natalie Portman.

Given her skilled performances in May December and Jackie, it seems wild Portman wouldn't have been considered the perfect actor to take on the role of Juliet.

However, when Romeo + Juliet first started being produced, there was one pretty big problem.

Portman was just 13 when the film's production began (20th Century Fox)

The issue? The age gap. Born in 1981, Portman was only a teenager - 13 to be exact - when Romeo + Juliet began production.

Granted, in the original tale, Juliet is actually meant to be 13 years old so Lurhmann was staying true to the story's roots in casting an actor of the same age.

Alas, when you take DiCaprio's age at the time into consideration - 21 - that's where things get a little bit more complicated.

Given the hefty age difference, not to mention the fact that one of the stars was an adult while the other was still very much a child, the casting choice for the pair of star-crossed lovers caused a lot of controversy.

Portman previously touched on this when discussing her short involvement with the film, saying: "It was a complicated situation and [...] at the time I was 13 and Leonardo was 21."

The actor went on to say it 'wasn't appropriate in the eyes of the film company or the director, Baz'.

Portman says the decision to leave was 'mutual' (20th Century Fox)

As a result, Portman ended up leaving the role behind, saying: "It was kind of a mutual decision too that it just wasn't going to be right at the time.”

With the role of Juliet then up for grabs, Luhrmann settled on Danes, who was starring in a series called My So-Called Life at the time.

Danes was 17 years old, but while there was still an age difference between herself and DiCaprio, it evidently wasn't one big enough to cause an issue for the filmmakers.

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