Once the poster child against romance – professing he feels “few emotions,” has “never been in love” and “does not believe in marriage” – Leonardo DiCaprio is now singing a different tune.

“I want to get married and have children,” the star of the upcoming Body of Lies and Revolutionary Road, 33, tells Parade. “In saying that, I realize I am contradicting everything I’ve said before. I absolutely believe in marriage.”

Linked for the past two years with 23-year-old Israeli model Bar Refaeli – in a relationship that has run both hot and cold – DiCaprio says, “What I definitely feel a need for is to make my life about more than just my career. Just last night I was thinking to myself how little of my life has been lived normally and not spent on some far-off movie location.”

As for his declarations of the past – and shooting an arrow through Cupid’s heart – he says, “No, I don’t agree with any of that. It sounds like the ignorance of youth to me. When did I say that? Three or four years ago? Hey, we grow up real fast.”

A one-time child model and actor (Growing Pains), DiCaprio says, “My parents never tried to steer me in any direction. I wanted to be an actor, but I never thought it was a real possibility, ever. I thought I’d be a marine biologist, because nature and evolution fascinated me.”

His reason for entering the profession, he admits, was because “[w]e’re all after love, aren’t we? Love is what people are hungry for. That’s absolutely why I became an actor.”

And, having starred in the most successful box-office hit of all time, 1997′s Titanic, a reflective DiCaprio (who is also lamenting the recent loss of his beloved grandmother, Oma), says, “I do appreciate it. I know how lucky I am.”

He adds, “I hope I never get cynical. I think you need youthful energy, excitement and optimism in life. There is a lot I want to do, and the more cynical you become, the more you sit on your butt and do nothing.”

Emphasizing what he finds important, DiCaprio lists family and environment.

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