LEONARDO DiCAPRIO hasn't put on weight - he's just beefed up, claims the producer of his latest film GANGS OF NEW YORK.

DiCaprio, who is currently filming in Rome, Italy, has sparked a slew of reports of massive weight gain, and set tongues wagging when he refused to be photographed at last month's prestigious RUDOLPH VALENTINO film awards in Rome. But GRAHAM KING, the Executive Producer of the MARTIN SCORCESE- directed project, insists the whole weight issue has been taken out of context - he says DiCaprio's just been working out.

King says, "I think there was some misguidance about working out and putting on weight. Scorcese told him to go and get buff and work out for the role, and the press all mistook that when he came back and was bigger. "He actually looks great, and a lot of the press in Europe were saying how much he had gained weight and bloated out but I took a lot of people to the set to see him and they were just amazed at how good he looks."

And King adds, appearances aside, fans of the TITANIC hunk are going to see a whole new side of DiCaprio when the gangster movie hits cinemas. He says, "I think you're going to see a more edgy Leo than you've seen before. One thing THE BEACH did prove is that he is a very very good actor and there's evidence of that in this." (LE/WN/NFA)

Source: WENN