Leonardo Di Caprio

Leonardo Di Caprio – The Star Performer

When he called himself the king of the world, we believed him. Twenty years gone and with a face that pretty much looks the same, Leonardo Di Caprio has become a household name, a true movie star, perhaps the most loved artist around. With several Oscar nominations that did not come to fruition, he has kept pushing harder, evolving with every role, making each character his own. Finally, with the first Oscar in his hand this year, he proves to all and sundry that persistence is the second name of victory.

 The only child of German mother Irmelin and a countercultural comic artist George DiCaprio, Leo was born in a family that nurtured his talent. Owing his success to his parents, he said in an interview, “My parents listened to me, you see. They listened to their kid saying, ‘This is what I want to do,’ and they supported me unconditionally; they made me feel that all my dreams were within reach.”

 Born and brought up in Los Angeles California, Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio’s performance skills became obvious to his parents early on, and the young teenager began appearing on a number of commercials and educational programs. He began his career with sitcoms Growing Pains and Santa Barbara in the early 1990s but true recognition came to the star in the film adaptation of the memoirs This Boy’s Life alongside Robert Di Niro. DiCaprio was praised for his supporting role in the drama What's Eating Gilbert Grape where he played a mentally challenged youth and gained public recognition but got his big break with 1997’s hit Romeo + Juliet; Baz Luhrmann’s modern retelling of the classic romantic tragedy, where his acting prowess garnered him commercial success just as the film received critical acclaim, establishing him as a teen heartthrob.

Soon on the heels of Romeo + Juliet followed the world’s biggest movie, James Cameron’s epic romance Titanic, where his portrayal of a carefree penniless scruffy artist made Leo a renowned figure the world over, ushering in a period fans like to fondly call the ‘Leo-Mania’. Since then he has been working with the biggest directors in the industry, receiving Oscar nominations for several characters. Upon the success of Titanic, DiCaprio said in an interview "I have no collection of me during that whole Titanic phenomenon and what my face became around the world. I'll never reach that state of popularity again, and I don't expect to. It's not something I'm going to try to achieve either."

Soon followed a series of big name collaborations which had some of his best performances such as Spielberg’s crime drama, Catch Me If You Can where he played a con artist donning several personas and charming his way out of trouble, and Martin Scorcese’s epics Gangs of New York, Shutter Island and The Wolf of Wall Street. The dedicated actor received unprecedented acclaimed for his performances in the political war thriller Blood Diamond, the neo-noir crime drama The Departed, the espionage thriller Body of Lies by Ridley Scott, Sam Mendes’ drama Revolutionary Road, Christopher Nolan’s Inception, and Tarantino’s western Django Unchained where he played a mustache twirling villain, his first anti-hero, and the tragic literary character in the period drama, The Great Gatsby. From romance and dramas to psychological thrillers to playing a mentally challenged youth, there is no genre of film that Leonardo hasn’t tried his hands and excelled at. As someone who has gone from bit parts in television commercials to one of the most respected actors in the world, DiCaprio has had one of the most diverse careers in cinema. He hates typecasting and defies following conventional roles, “I get unhappy doing things that I’m not passionate about because I feel like I’m squandering this incredible gift I’ve been given. As soon as my name alone was enough to make this happen, I vowed to myself that I was going to work with directors who were changing cinema, doing something important. This goes back to when I was a teenager, feverishly watching movies like Taxi Driver and Apocalypse Now and saying to myself, someday, I’m going to be a part of films like this.”

 While DiCaprio's career saw him getting better and better, his perfection culminated in his portrayal of Hugh Glass in Alejandro Inarritu’s The Revenant,  finally winning him the Academy Award for Best Actor and a Golden Globe Award for the same, along with previous awards for the Aviator (2004)and The Wolf of Wall Street(2013).

 His personal life has seen many relationships budding and fizzling out. But the actor has maintained a steady bond with a few of his co-stars and fellow actors and is best friends with Tobey McGuire, Mark Wahlberg and Titanic costar Kate Winslet. About her, he says, “There is a special magic in our bond. Kate is awesome. She is beautiful, tremendously talented and really down to earth. I don't think England realizes what a treasure she is."

TRIVIA

• He is named after the artist Leonardo da Vinci, as his pregnant mother was standing in front of a da Vinci painting the first time she felt him kick.

• He has one of the biggest fanbase in the world. When despite numerous nominations for deserving performances Leonardo failed to receive an Oscar, more than 200 fans contacted the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to protest his not being nominated for the 70th Academy Awards.

• While filming Blood Diamonds in South Africa, Leonardo adopted a South African baby girl after meeting her at an orphanage. He sends her a monthly cheque and they speak often on the phone.

•  He owns an island off the coast of Belize which he plans to turn into an eco-friendly resort.

•  When Leonardo DiCaprio's character Calvin Candie in Django Unchained smashes his hand on the dinner table, the actor accidentally crushed a small stemmed glass with his palm and really began to bleed. He ignored it and continued filming the shot.

•  In 1998, Leo made it to People Magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People in the World.

•  Leonardo is a millionaire philanthropist. Passionate about humanitarian and environmental causes, he contributed $1,000,000 to Wildlife Conservation Society and another million to earthquake relief efforts in 2010.

•  In 2015, DiCaprio executive produced a Netflix exclusive cut of the movie Cowspiracy which explored the impact of animal agriculture on the environment and the position of several environmental organizations. He also founded the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation to support sustainability efforts, and is on the board of Natural Resources Defense Council and Global Green USA.