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Leonardo DiCaprio's girlfriend Camila Morrone defends their 23-year age gap: People 'should be able to date who they want to date'

Leonardo DiCaprio’s girlfriend Camila Morrone says that when it comes to their romance, age ain’t nothing but a number.

The 22-year-old model and actress made rare comments about her relationship with the Academy Award winner, 45, in a new interview with the Los Angeles Times. She said she doesn’t understand the criticism of their age difference and pointed out that May to December romances are nothing new.

“There’s so many relationships in Hollywood — and in the history of the world — where people have large age gaps,” Morrone said to the outlet. “I just think anyone should be able to date who they want to date.”

And as she branches out from modeling to acting — she’s getting buzz for her role in the indie film Mickey and the Bear — Morrone says she finds it “frustrating” that people only view her as DiCaprio’s girlfriend. Though she’s hopeful that will change.

“I think more and more now that people are seeing the film, I’m slowly getting an identity outside of that,” she said. “Which is frustrating, because I feel like there should always be an identity besides who you’re dating.”

She continued, “I understand the association, but I’m confident that will continue to slip away and be less of a conversation.”

That said, Morrone said she understands the fascination with her relationship.

“I probably would be curious about it too,” she admitted.

Morrone was first linked to DiCaprio — who has long dated younger women who were also models — in January 2018. They’ve been spotted around the globe together — in NYC, on the West Coast for the Coachella Music Festival and at Cannes, where the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood star proudly served as her Instagram boyfriend.

After getting her start in modeling, Morrone recently turned to acting. She told the LA Times that she turned down the roles she was offered for a year because they were all stereotypical pretty girl parts. Mickey and the Bear isn’t one of those. She doesn’t wear makeup for the role, works as a taxidermist and lives in a trailer home as she takes care of her dad, a veteran struggling with PTSD.

And while she certainly can pick DiCaprio’s brain over her acting projects, she has another Academy Award winner to turn to. Al Pacino — who dated her mom, actress Lucila Solá, for several years and whom she views as a stepfather figure — watched an early cut of her film and sent notes to the director.

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