American actor Leonardo DiCaprio (1974) has often played unconventional parts, particularly in biopics and period films. His role in the blockbuster Titanic (1998) cemented DiCaprio's reputation as a teen heartthrob. He became one of the biggest movie stars thanks to his films with the directors Martin Scorsese, Christopher Nolan, and Quentin Tarantino. He won an Oscar and a Golden Globe Award for The Revenant (2015) as well as two other Golden Globes for The Aviator (2004) and The Wolf of Wall Street (2013).
Vintage postcard by One. Photo: David LaChapelle, 1995.
British postcard by The Alternative Picture Co., no. RCL845. Photo: David LaChapelle, 1995.
Vintage postcard. Photo: David LaChapelle, 1995.
Handpicked by Robert De Niro out of 400 young actors
Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio was born in Los Angeles, in 1974. He is the only child of
Irmelin (née Indenbirken), a legal secretary, and
George DiCaprio, an underground comix writer, publisher, and distributor of comic books. His parents separated when he was a year old. When his older stepbrother earned $50,000 for a television commercial, DiCaprio was fascinated and decided to become an actor. At age 14, he began his career by appearing in television commercials such as for Matchbox cars by Mattel, which he considered his first role. In 1989, he played the role of Glen in two episodes of the television show
The New Lassie. Leo played recurring roles in various television series, such as the sitcom
Parenthood (1990-1991) based on the successful comedy film of the same name.
He made his film debut as the stepson of an evil landlord in the low-budget horror direct-to-video film
Critters 3 (Kristine Peterson, 1991). He was handpicked by
Robert De Niro out of 400 young actors to play the lead role in the biographical coming-of-age drama
This Boy's Life (Michael Caton-Jones, 1993) with De Niro as his stepfather, and
Ellen Barkin as his mother. Critic
Roger Ebert in 1993: "Toby is played by Leonardo DiCaprio, a relative newcomer (he's done TV, and had the lead in
Critters III). The movie is successful largely because he is a good enough actor to hold his own in his scenes with De Niro, so that the movie remains his story, and isn't upstaged by the loathsome but colorful Dwight."
In 1993, DiCaprio co-starred as the intellectually disabled brother of
Johnny Depp's character in
What's Eating Gilbert Grape (Lasse Hallström, 1993), a comic-tragic odyssey of a dysfunctional Iowa family. The film became a critical success, earning DiCaprio a National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor and nominations for an Oscar and a Golden Globe. The 19-year-old was hailed as an actor to watch. His next films were the Western
The Quick and the Dead (Sam Raimi, 1995) with
Sharon Stone, the biopic
The Basketball Diaries (Scott Kalvert, 1995) in which he played a teenage Jim Carroll as a drug-addicted high school basketball player and writer, and the erotic drama
Total Eclipse (Agnieszka Holland, 1995), a fictionalised account of the homosexual relationship between
Arthur Rimbaud (DiCaprio) and
Paul Verlaine (
David Thewlis).
In 1996, DiCaprio appeared opposite
Claire Danes in
Baz Luhrmann's
Romeo + Juliet, an abridged modernisation of
William Shakespeare's romantic tragedy of the same name. The project grossed $147 million worldwide and earned DiCaprio a Silver Bear for Best Actor at the 1997 Berlin International Film Festival.
DiCaprio then achieved international fame as a star in the epic romance
Titanic (James Cameron, 1997), opposite
Kate Winslet.
Roger Ebert in his review: "
James Cameron's 194-minute, $200 million film of the tragic voyage is in the tradition of the great Hollywood epics. It is flawlessly crafted, intelligently constructed, strongly acted and spellbinding. If its story stays well within the traditional formulas for such pictures, well, you don't choose the most expensive film ever made as your opportunity to reinvent the wheel." Against expectations,
Titanic went on to become the highest-grossing film to that point, eventually grossing more than $2.1 billion in box-office receipts worldwide. DiCaprio turned into a superstar, resulting in intense adoration among teenage girls and young women in general that became known as "Leo-Mania".
Vintage postcard.
Leonardo DiCaprio in
Romeo + Juliet (Baz Luhrmann, 1996).
Vintage postcard.
Leonardo DiCaprio in
Romeo + Juliet (Baz Luhrmann, 1996).
British postcard by Memory Card, no. 434.
Leonardo DiCaprio and
Claire Danes in
Romeo + Juliet (Baz Luhrmann, 1996).
Vintage postcard by 7up, no DD 2079B. Photo: Twentieth Century Fox and Paramount.
Leonardo DiCaprio in
Titanic (James Cameron, 1997).
German postcard by Sunburst Merchandising GmbH, Osnabrück / Ana Anakos AG, München. Photo: Paramount / Fox, 1998.
Leonardo DiCaprio and
Kate Winslet in
Titanic (James Cameron, 1997).
A Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Screen Couple
Leonardo DiCaprio played a self-mocking role as a badly behaved movie star in
Woody Allen's caustic satire of the fame industry,
Celebrity (1998). It was a small appearance. That year, he also starred in the dual roles of the villainous King Louis XIV and his secret, sympathetic twin brother Philippe in
The Man in the Iron Mask (Randall Wallace, 1998). The film received mixed to negative response, but became a box office success, grossing $180 million internationally. DiCaprio was awarded a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Screen Couple for both incarnations the following year. Also, his next film,
The Beach (Danny Boyle, 2000), proved to be a disappointment both financially and artistically. However, DiCaprio soon bounced back.
In 2002, he starred in two successful features in which he demonstrated his range as an actor. The first was the biographical crime drama
Catch Me If You Can (Steven Spielberg, 2002), based on the life of
Frank Abagnale Jr., who before his 19th birthday committed check fraud to make millions in the 1960s. The film received favourable reviews and was an international success, becoming DiCaprio's highest-grossing release since
Titanic with a total of $351 million worldwide. The second was the historical drama
Gangs of New York (Martin Scorsese, 2002) with
Cameron Diaz and
Daniel Day-Lewis. It is a sprawling tale of gangland violence in early America. The film marked his first of many collaborations with legendary director
Martin Scorsese.
Gangs of New York earned a total of $193 million worldwide and received mostly positive reviews.
DiCaprio played eccentric and reclusive billionaire genius
Howard Hughes in
The Aviator (Martin Scorsese, 2004), which DiCaprio also co-produced.
Perry Seibert at
AllMovie: "Though the film feels a bit overlong, it never loses the audience's interest, thanks in large part to DiCaprio's determined blue eyes. Those eyes are always able to communicate the intensity of Hughes' feelings -- be it his passion for women and aviation, or his fear of losing control." In 2005, DiCaprio was named the commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for his contributions to the arts. He next played a mercenary in the political thriller
Blood Diamond (Edward Zwick, 2006).
DiCaprio played an undercover cop opposite
Jack Nicholson and
Matt Damon in the crime saga
The Departed (Martin Scorsese, 2006).
Perry Seibert at
AllMovie: "Leonardo DiCaprio deserves much praise for his excellent work in the film. He broods and goes for the big emotions when it is appropriate, but for the most part, he serves as the quiet center of this film. He delivers a monologue in the middle of the movie where he explains that no matter what tension surrounds him, no matter how fast his heart beats, his hands remain still. That remains true throughout the picture, but DiCaprio compensates for this control by letting his eyes do much of the work. During moments of openness, his bearing and his posture don't change, but his eyes convey just enough vulnerability for the audience to register his inner experiences, both with regard to the specific scene and to the double-life that is slowly eating him alive." Budgeted at $90 million, the film grossed $291 million and emerged as DiCaprio and Scorsese's highest-grossing collaboration to date.
He reunited with
Kate Winslet in the romantic drama
Revolutionary Road (Sam Mendes, 2008). DiCaprio is the founder of Appian Way Productions — a production company that has produced some of his films and the documentary series
Greensburg (2008–2010) — and the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, a non-profit organisation devoted to promoting environmental awareness.
German postcard by Sunburst Merchandising GmbH, Osnabrück / Ana Anakos AG, München. Photo: Paramount / Fox, 1998. Publicity still for
Titanic (James Cameron, 1997).
British postcard by Twentieth Century Fox / 7up, no. DD 2079A. Photo: Paramount / Fox.
Kate Winslet and
Leonardo DiCaprio in
Titanic (James Cameron, 1997).
British postcard by the London Postcard Company, no. MG 2004 (Series 1 of 9), Portrait #6. Photo: United Artists.
Leonardo DiCaprio as King Louis in
The Man in the Iron Mask (Randall Wallace, 1998).
French postcard by Sonis, no. C. 854. Photo: United Artists.
Gabriel Byrne,
Leonardo DiCaprio,
John Malkovich,
Gérard Depardieu, and
Jeremy Irons in
The Man in the Iron Mask (Randall Wallace, 1998).
Vintage postcard. Photo: United Artists.
Leonardo DiCaprio and
Anne Parillaud in
The Man in the Iron Mask (Randall Wallace, 1998).
Scorsese - Nolan - Tarantino - Luhrmann
In the next decade, Leonardo DiCaprio continued to play challenging and even iconic roles. He collaborated for a fourth time with
Martin Scorsese in the psychological thriller
Shutter Island (Martin Scorsese, 2010), based on the novel of the same name by
Dennis Lehane. The film was another commercial success, grossing $294 million worldwide. DiCaprio then starred as Dom Cobb in the complex Science-Fiction thriller
Inception (Christopher Nolan, 2010). Cobb enters the dreams of others to obtain information that is otherwise inaccessible. For his role, DiCaprio earned $50 million - his highest payday yet.
Perry Seibert at
AllMovie: "Half the reason a director casts a powerful figure like DiCaprio is to help the viewer through all the information. Sure, DiCaprio has the chops to play a haunted man with magnetic vulnerability -- much as he did in
Shutter Island -- and
Inception is another chance to appreciate why he's on the short list of genuine movie stars. But his engaging presence also helps sell the movie's insanely intricate plot developments; since Cobb always seems like he knows exactly what's going on, we trust that it all makes sense."
He was an executive producer for
George Clooney's political drama
The Ides of March (George Clooney, 2011) with
Ryan Gosling. This was an adaptation of
Beau Willimon's play 'Farragut North'. In 2012, DiCaprio starred as a plantation owner, Calvin Candie, in
Quentin Tarantino's Spaghetti Western,
Django Unchained (2012). DiCaprio's next role was as the millionaire Jay Gatsby in
Baz Luhrmann's
The Great Gatsby (2013), an adaptation of
F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel of the same name. That year he also starred in the biopic
The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese, 2013), based on the life of stockbroker Jordan Belfort, who was arrested in the late 1990s for securities fraud and money laundering.
Perry Seibert at
AllMovie: "When Jordan, after taking too many powerful quaaludes, has a physical breakdown and must drive back home while suffering seizures. DiCaprio, as he does throughout the movie, throws himself into this scene with the commitment of a silent-era comic. It's hard to think of another A-list leading man so willing to make himself look ridiculous, and working with someone he trusts as much as Scorsese only inspires him to push even further. It's an outrageously funny sequence, one that few actor/director combinations would have the talent to execute this well."
The film earned him a Golden Globe and Oscar nominations for Best Actor and Best Picture. Next, DiCaprio was an executive producer on
Virunga (Orlando von Einsiedel, 2014), a British documentary film about four people fighting to protect the world's last mountain gorillas from war and poaching. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. In 2015, DiCaprio produced and played frontiersman and fur trapper Hugh Glass in
Alejandro G. Iñárritu's survival drama
The Revenant, situated in the 1820s.
Daniel Gelb at
AllMovie: "He's never been more committed to a role -- we see him bearded and bloodied, reserved and delirious -- and he delivers a stunning performance. Glass is pushed to the brink of physical and mental anguish, and DiCaprio makes us feel every shred of his pain."
Built on a budget of $135 million, the well-received film grossed $533 million worldwide. Di Caprio nabbed his sixth Oscar nomination for the film and finally landed his first win, for Best Actor. The film also earned him numerous other awards, including a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, a SAG and a Critic's Choice Award for Best Actor. For the next three years, DiCaprio narrated documentaries and served as a producer for films. DiCaprio returned to acting following a break of four years in
Quentin Tarantino's comedy-drama
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019), as a fading Hollywood actor opposite
Brad Pitt as his stuntman. Taking place in 1969, the saga gives a great behind-the-scenes look at the end of Hollywood's Golden Age. For his leading role, DiCaprio received nominations for an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and a BAFTA Award for Best Actor. The film earned a total of $374 million against its $90-million budget.
Leonardo DiCaprio's personal life is the subject of widespread media attention. He rarely gives interviews and is reluctant to discuss his private life. Among his former girlfriends are Brazilian model
Gisele Bündchen, Israeli model
Bar Refaeli, and German model
Toni Garrn. His current girlfriend is Argentine-born model
Camila Morrone. Their age difference is 22 years. In 2020, DiCaprio served as an executive producer for
The Right Stuff, a television series adaption of the 1973 namesake book. In 2021, DiCaprio appeared in
Adam McKay's satirical comedy
Don't Look Up starring alongside
Jennifer Lawrence as two astronomers attempting to warn humanity about an extinction-level comet. While reviews for the film were mixed, most critics praised DiCaprio's and Lawrence's performances. DiCaprio next starred in Scorsese's crime drama
Killers of the Flower Moon (Martin Scorsese, 2023) based on the book of the same name by
David Grann, for which he was paid $30 million. Initially signed for the heroic part of FBI agent Thomas Bruce White Sr., DiCaprio insisted on playing the morally complex role of Ernest Burkhart, a nephew of murderer William King Hale, leading to extensive script rewrites.
IndieWire's
David Ehrlich: "That sepia-toned saga of slow-poisoned self-denial is sustained by the best performance of Leonardo DiCaprio’s entire career. The former matinee idol has never been shy about playing low-lifes and scum-bums, but his nuanced and uncompromising turn as the cretinous Ernest Burkhart mines new wonders from the actor’s long-standing lack of vanity."
French postcard by Forum Cartes et Collections, Nouaillé, no. 35. Cannes (06), 2003. Photo: Anne-Christine Poujoulat-STF. Caption: The director
Martin Scorsese (middle), the actor
Leonardo DiCaprio (left) and the actress
Cameron Diaz pose for the photographers before a screening of
Gangs of New York on 20 May 2002 during the 55th Cannes Film Festival.
British postcard by Heroes Publishing Ltd., London, no SFC 3025.
Vintage card.
Vintage postcard by Too much!
Vintage postcard. Photo: 20th Century Fox.
Jamie Kennedy,
Zak Orth,
Leonardo DiCaprio,
Dash Mihok, and
Harold Perrineau in
Romeo + Juliet (Baz Luhrmann, 1996). Caption: Montague. Quarrel I Will Back Thee.
Sources:
Roger Ebert,
Perry Seibert (AllMovie),
Biography.com,
David Ehrlich (IndieWire),
Wikipedia and
IMDb.
This post was last updated on 4 January 2024.