Romeo
Played by Leonardo DiCaprio, Romeo is the young son and successor of Lord and Lady Montague. About sixteen years of age, he is handsome, witty, and, unlike the rest of his clansmen, sensitive. Romeo is a charming, brave, and loyal to his friends and family; a personable character but also passionate to a fault and prone to recklessness and immaturity. It is these negative character traits that lead to his demise later on. He is caught in the middle of a bitter, violent rivalry between his family, the Montagues, and their rivals, the Capulets. Despite being the scion of his family, he is completely indifferent to the feud, caring only for love and romance. In the beginning of the film he is infatuated with a woman named Rosaline, who is never shown on screen. He completely forgets about his infatuation with her once he sees Juliet, the daughter and heir of their most hated adversaries, the Capulets. Romeo braves these odds and marries Juliet in secret, hoping to escape to some place to start a quiet life together. A series of cruel twists of fate has Romeo killing Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin, and eventually committing suicide for thinking that Juliet had died.
Juliet
The beautiful young daughter of Lord and Lady Capulet, Juliet starts off as a starry-eyed, naïve young woman who thinks little about love and relationships. This all changes when she falls in love with Romeo, the son of their rival clan. Unlike Romeo she is cloistered in her family’s estate: being the only daughter of one of the most powerful businessman in Verona Beach she would make for a choice target. Juliet, like Romeo, is also headstrong and impulsive, eloping with him and refusing to believe the reports she receives of how he killed her cousin Tybalt.
Tybalt
Juliet’s maternal cousin, Tybalt is pompous, flashy, quick tempered, and skilled with firearms. He is called “The Prince of Cats” perhaps because of his agility and competence in combat and is renowned in Verona Beach as a fearsome duelist. He hates all Montagues with a passion bordering on obsession. Perhaps more than any other character in the play, Tybalt embodies pure violence, as crystallized by his reaction when Benvolio urges peace: "Drawn, and talk of peace! I hate the word, as I hate hell, all Montagues and thee,"—a line that receives special emphasis in Luhrmann's adaptation. Moreover, Tybalt's violence is viral—it infects Romeo and others around him into participating in and continuing the two families' "ancient grudge." Romeo finally kills Tybalt as an act of revenge for Tybalt having slain Mercutio.
Mercutio
Romeo’s best friend and party animal extraordinaire, Mercutio is a dynamo of constant movement, energy, and passion brimming with keen humor and biting sarcasm. He has a deep hatred of people who are artificial, stiff, and pompous. Mercutio is fond of witty exchanges, specifically raunchy double entendres. Bored by Romeo’s lofty ideas of romantic love, he tries to persuade him to adapt the notion of love as an sensual, anarchic matter instead. Scholars have speculated about Mercutio's sexual and romantic attraction to Romeo, an idea which Lurhmann's film realizes by making Mercutio a queer drag performer who seems to innocently pine for Romeo, despite his frustrations surrounding Romeo's actions. Mercutio's most well known monologue is his "Queen Mab" speech in which he expounds on the peculiar nature and utmost power of dreams and fantasies on the human mind.
Fulgencio Capulet
Patriarch of the Capulet family, husband of Gloria Capulet, father of Juliet, and sworn enemy of the Montagues, his character is played by Paul Sorvino. The Capulets are depicted in the film as a mafia family of sorts of which he is the aging but still capable capo. Though emotionally detached from Juliet and generally clueless about her motivations and desires he genuinely loves his daughter and decides that it would be best for her to be paired off and married to Dave Paris, the most eligible bachelor of their time and son of the governor. He is esteemed by his men and follows strict social decorum, but he is passionate as well and knows when to let his hair down and have a genuinely good time.
Gloria Capulet
Juliet’s mother and Fulgencio Capulet’s wife, she is depicted in the film as a washed-up actress, still outwardly beautiful but well past her prime. Highly theatrical, she seems entirely preoccupied by cultivating her appearance—she is first seen in the film, for instance, donning an ornate Cleopatra costume. She is keen on getting Juliet to marry Dave Paris, as she sees much to gain from their union. She is an inadequate, emotionally distant mother to her daughter and relies largely on Juliet's nurse to attend to and provide for Juliet’s moral, emotional, and pragmatic needs. Her narcissism and self-centeredness is put into stark relief by Juliet's earnestness, humility, and sincerity.
Ted Montague
Head of the Montague clan, Romeo’s father, and bitter enemy of the Capulets, for reasons never truly disclosed, Ted Montague is played by Brian Dennehy in the film. The Montagues are depicted in the film as an Irish mob family of sorts of which he is the aging but still capable chief. The years have not dulled his taste for combat; he keeps a “longsword” 12 gauge shotgun in an concealed case in his limousine, just in case. In the beginning of the film we see him constantly keeping tabs on Romeo, calling Benvolio on his cell phone to ask about his son’s whereabouts and emotional condition. Being the leader of his clan he is naturally concerned that his son and heir is more preoccupied with pining over some unrequited love than with learning the ropes of leadership.
Caroline Montague
Ted Montague’s wife and mother to Romeo, she is depicted in the film as a dignified, quiet woman of considerable strength able to keep her husband from joining the rest of the hotheaded Montague boys in a gunfight. Despite having few lines, she communicates this quiet strength very well.
Father Lawrence
Father Lawrence is a kindhearted Franciscan priest and friend to Romeo and Juliet, as well as an accomplished horticulturist and holistic medical practitioner. Father Lawrence is a staunch advocate of moderation and helps the couple to think through their situation and plan ahead. He secretly marries the star-crossed lovers, optimistic that their union may bring peace to Verona Beach and end the gang war. Father Lawrence is pivotal as both a mentor and a moral guide for Romeo and Juliet, who are often tossed asunder by their passions and unsure of how to realize their wish to be together.
The Nurse
Juliet’s nurse, the woman who has cared for Juliet her entire life. She provides comic relief with her manic activity and unabashed comments. The Nurse is Juliet’s loyal friend and go-between in Juliet’s affair with Romeo, and although she genuinely disapproves of her choice to marry him, she can do nothing to stop her charge, whom she dotes upon like a daughter. Played by Miriam Margolyes as an elderly Latin-American maid, The Nurse in Lurhmann's film also reflects the socioeconomic realities of Southern California, in which wealthy families often choose to hire live-in housekeepers who are immigrants or from underprivileged backgrounds. The Nurse is one of the most vocally religious characters in the play.
Dave Paris
Dave Paris is the son of the governor in the film and bachelor of the year and the preferred choice of suitor for Juliet. He is more than a little self-assured; he behaves insolently toward Juliet once Fulgencio Capulet promised him he could marry Juliet. Played by Paul Rudd, Dave Paris is shown on the cover of TIME Magazine in Lurhmann's film, emphasizing the fact that he has a gleaming and desirable public image.
Benvolio Montague
Ted Montague’s nephew and Romeo’s cousin and good-natured friend, he determines sincerely to avoid fighting with the Capulets, especially in public, yet Mercutio accuses him of harboring a temper in private. He spends most of his time playing pool in the rundown strip of Verona Beach, keeping watch over his amorous cousin for his uncle, and doing his best to distract Romeo to get his mind off Rosaline.
Captain Prince
Captain Prince is the Police Chief of Verona Beach; his main duty is to maintain the peace, a difficult task at best with the Montagues and the Capulets constantly at each other’s throats. He is gruff and has no room for foolish talk which is no surprise considering the amount of grief and destruction the feuding clans cause to the city.
Balthasar Montague
Balthasar is cast in the film as Romeo’s cousin rather than dedicated servant like in the play. He is the one who brings the news of Juliet’s death, ignorant of the fact that it was a chemically induced deep sleep.
Sampson and Gregory Montague
Two characters cast in the film as members of the Montague family rather than servants of the house of Capulet, they successfully manage to goad some Capulet men into a gunfight.
Abraham “Abra” Capulet
One of the brawlers who get into a gunfight with Sampson and Gregory Montague in the first scene of the film, Abra is cast as a Capulet rather than a Montague as in the play.
The Apothecary
A shabby, unkempt man, he initially refuses to sell Romeo poison but eventually relents because of the money being offered to him.
Rosaline
Rosaline never appears on-screen, and for all intents and purposes is a completely imaginary character that Romeo is absolutely smitten with in the beginning of the film. Despite this, she is described as being very beautiful and charming.
