Camila Marrone, an actress, has spoken out about her romance with Leonardo DiCaprio, justifying their 23-year age difference.

In a new interview with the Los Angeles Times, the 22-year-old model and actor revealed rare disclosures about her affair with the 45-year-old Academy Award winner.

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

The Mickey and the Bear actress stated that she understood why people are wondering about the age disparity, saying, “I probably would be curious about it too.”

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Marrone and DiCaprio have been dating for over two years, having first being seen together in 2017. Despite the fact that they have kept their relationship private, it has attracted a lot of media attention. Due to her work in the film Mickey and the Bear, for which she has gotten positive reviews, Marrone says she is glad to see people talking about her as an actor rather than merely as DiCaprio’s girlfriend.

“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.”

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

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Camila also addressed the rumors that swirled around photographs she shared on Instagram in July. Camila captioned a series of antique photos of Hollywood stars Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart, who were famous for their 25-year age gap, “a love like this,” and fans felt she was alluding to the age gap between herself and Leo.

Camila, on the other hand, told the LA Times that the underlying message wasn’t meant when she tweeted the photo, and that she just enjoys the actors.

The couple was seen holding hands in New York City in October, and they were previously seen riding bikes around the city throughout the summer.

Earlier this year, the pair visited Coachella together, as well as the Cannes Feature Festival, where DiCaprio premiered his Quentin Tarantino film Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood.

Morrone has lately gained recognition for her breakthrough part in the independent film Mickey and the Bear, in which she plays a high school senior who is responsible for her single father, a combat veteran suffering from PTSD.

Jennifer Lawrence’s breakout performance in the 2010 film “Winter’s Bone,” in which Lawrence played a high school girl struggling to care for her younger brothers while also searching for her absent father, has attracted comparisons to the film.

The film Mickey and the Bear is already in theaters in the United States, although it has yet to be released in the United Kingdom.