Recent Shows: Titanic
Romeo + Juliet
Growing Pains
Critters 3
This Boy's Life
What's Eating Gilbert Grape
Quick and the Dead, The
Basketball Diaries, The
Total Eclipse
Marvin's Room
Celebrity
Gangs of New York
Catch Me If You Can
Aviator, The
Departed, The
Blood Diamond
Revolutionary Road
Biography:
His name allegedly derives from his German mother Irmalin's having
experienced a sudden kick from her unborn boy while enjoying a DaVinci
painting at the Uffizi. In the year following his birth, she and his
Italian father, George, were divorced. He grew u ...(read more)
His name allegedly derives from his German mother Irmalin's having
experienced a sudden kick from her unborn boy while enjoying a DaVinci
painting at the Uffizi. In the year following his birth, she and his
Italian father, George, were divorced. He grew up in Echo Park, then a
particularly seedy, drug-dominated area of Los Angeles. At five he
appeared on his favorite TV show "Romper Room" (1953) and was nearly thrown off for
misbehaving. After a string of commercials, educational films
("Mickey's Safety Club"), occasional parts in TV series, a debut film
role as Josh in Critters 3 (1991) , a continuing role as the homeless boy Luke in
the TV series "Growing Pains" (1985) , he got his break-through part as Toby in
This Boy's Life (1993) , co-starring with 'Robert De Niro' and 'Ellen Barkin' .
The part led the New York Film Critics and the National Society of Film
Critics to name him runner-up for Best Supporting Actor. His first
Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations came for the difficult role
of Arnie in What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993) . Equally challenging parts were a drug-troubled Jim
Carroll in Basketball Diaries, The (1995) , the tormented homosexual poet Rimbaud in Total Eclipse (1995) ,
and the angry teenage son of a harried mother in Marvin's Room (1996) . He made a
major impact with his starring role in a very updated Romeo + Juliet (1996) .
Superstardom came to DiCaprio playing Jack Dawson in Titanic (1997) , highest
grossing film ever, tied with Ben-Hur (1959) for most Academy Awards, though
Leo himself was not nominated. His performance in the remake of Man in the Iron Mask, The (1998/I)
was poorly received, but the film still turned a profit. His next major
film, Beach, The (2000/I) , was not a success, but he made another comeback in
Catch Me If You Can (2002) and remains an A-list star.
Ed Stephan < stephan@cc.wwu.edu>
Quotes:
* "The best thing about acting is that I get to lose myself in another
character and actually get paid for it. It's a great outlet. As for
myself, I'm not sure who I am. It seems that I change every day."
* "People want you to be a crazy, out-of-contr ...(read more)
* "The best thing about acting is that I get to lose myself in another
character and actually get paid for it. It's a great outlet. As for
myself, I'm not sure who I am. It seems that I change every day."
* "People want you to be a crazy, out-of-control teen brat. They want you
miserable, just like them. They don't want heroes; what they want is to
see you fall."
* On working with 'Martin Scorsese' in Gangs of New York (2002) : "He's a perfectionist, obsessed
with detail. That's why he went over budget and over schedule."
* "You can either be a vain movie star, or you can try to shed some light
on different aspects of the human condition."
* "It's a really obvious thing to say, but the more people know too much
about who you really are, and it's a fundamental thing, the more the
mystery is taken away from the artist, and the harder it is for people
to believe that person in a particular role."
* On fame: "As soon as enough people give you enough compliments and
you're wielding more power than you've ever had in your life, it's not
that you become an arrogant little prick, or become rude to people ...
but you get a false sense of your own importance and what you've
accomplished. You actually think you've altered the course of
history."
* "I don't really have many extravagances. I don't fly private jets and I
don't have bodyguards and I don't buy crazy things. I have a couple of
houses here and there. I bought a very expensive watch, and I am going
to buy a really expensive movie poster, the original for Thief of Bagdad, The (1940) . I
love movie posters."
* On turning 30: "I kind of feel like the same person except more time
has gone by. I hate to say that I feel like an adult now. I have to
admit I wish I was still 18. After all, even through the time while I
was representing that wild kid, I really wasn't. I was just living my
life. I was just not making movies at the time."
* On 'Martin Scorsese' : "Martin has brought so much to the art form of film, and he
is not the type of person who would be upset by not receiving an Oscar,
although it is a practical joke that he has not won an Academy Award
after all these years. Whatever opinions critics will have of Aviator, The (2004) ,
I really think that this is a great piece of art: once again, he has
made a great classic film."
* "The great thing about turning 30 in this business is that you get to
perpetuate being young or old as long as we want."
* On whether there are any aspecs of fame he dislikes: "You kidding? I
feel very fortunate. A lot of people would love to be in my position.
There are so many people out there who are suffering trillions of times
more than I could ever suffer, and would love to be me. I am a lucky
little bastard."
* "Yes, I can play younger than my age. But I can play characters older
than I am, too. I'm not an actor who can just play the kid."
* "I think people read the tabloids because they want to see you eating a
burger, or out of your makeup or doing something stupid because they
just want to see that you're like everyone else. And that's OK. I don't
want to catch myself anymore saying that my life is hard, because the
good far outweighs the bad in my life. And it's easier to focus on
those things, on the things that are important."
* "You learn after you've been in the business for a while that it's not
getting your face recognized that's the payoff. It's having your film
remembered."
* "I lived in Hollywood and, ironically, I didn't know you could just go
out and get an agent and go on auditions and try and become an actor, I
thought it was like a Masonic thing, like a blood line you had to
belong to - until I was 13. Then I realised what you had to do. It is
the one thing I know I want to do for the rest of my life."
* "I wasn't surprised that Jamie got the award. But I knew that cameras
would be stuffed up my face so I had my response ready. Anyone who says
they don't practice is a liar." -on losing out on the Oscar to 'Jamie Foxx'
during the 2005 Academy Awards.
* "I was behind a woman at the checkout counter who was looking at the
magazines. She turned to me and goes, 'There he is again, that Leonardo
DiCaprio. Don't you wish he'd just disappear?' I said (to myself), this
is the moment where I either go, 'Do you know who I am?' or put my hat
further down, pay for my corn-nuts and get out of there....I choose to
avoid that." (2005)
* My first date was with a girl named Cessi. We'd had a beautiful
relationship over the phone all summer long. Then she came home and we
met to go out for the first time to the movies. When I saw her I was
petrified. I couldn't even look her in the eye to talk to her.
* I don't know if I'm ever getting married. I'm probably not going to get
married unless I live with somebody for 10 or 20 years. But these
people took a chance and they did it. We don't have the guts that Romeo
did.
* As a little kid growing up in Hollywood, I was called 'a little crazy'.
And now I guess I'm still that way.
* I cheated a lot, because I just couldn't sit and do homework. I usually
sat next to someone extremely smart.
* I'm not really the quiet type, although some people think I am. But I'm
the rebel type in the sense that I don't think I'm like everyone else.
I try to be an individual.
* I like to help the whales, the otters, and the dolphins. When I'm
acting and I take a break, the first thing on my list is spending time
by the sea.
* I hate speaking in front of a large audience. I don't know where it
came from...but its just this gut-wrenching fear of slipping up and
doing something horrible.
* I insist on keeping a level head. I've maintained the same exact home
life that I've had for 20 years. All I see is more people looking at me
than before. But, you know, who cares? You just can't obsess yourself
with this fame stuff."
* "My mom and I lived at Hollywood and Western, a drug-dealer and
prostitute corner. It was pretty terrifying. I got beat up a lot. I saw
people have sex in the alleys. I remember I was 5 years old, and this
guy with a trench coat, needles and crack cornered me. Early on, seeing
the devastation on my block, seeing heroin addicts, made me think twice
about ever getting involved in drugs. It's evil. Once you take that
step and experiment, drugs can take over your life. You are not
yourself anymore. That's something I never wanted. I didn't have a lot
of friends growing up. It was kind of just me and my parents. But
because of them, the neighborhood did not have a bad effect on me. My
dad introduced me to artists, and every few months we'd go to some
hippie doo-dah parade as Mudmen in our underwear, carrying sticks and
covered in mud. My mother did everything to get me into the best
schools she could find."
* "When a role for a young guy is being offered to me, I think of
'River Phoenix' . It feels like a loss."
* When I was young, I used to have this thing where I wanted to see
everything. I used to think, 'How can I die without seeing every inch
of this world?'
* On his life: "What I would do in order to be popular was, I'd put
myself on line and joke around and be funny, and I was always known as
the crazy kid."
* "'Bridget Hall' and I hung out for a week. The whole thing was blown out of
proportion.
* I don't have the guts that Romeo did. [on marriage]
* On love: I like girls who are intelligent, somewhat funny, and pretty
with a nice personality.
* It's a weird adjustment living alone, because you don't realize how
much you really miss Mumsie until she's not there.
* Dark green is my favorite color. It's the color of nature and the color
of money and the color of moss!
* I'm not really the quiet type, although some people think I am. But I'm
the rebel type in the sense that I don't think I'm like everyone else.
I try to be an individual.
* I'm absolutely clean. I've never tried anything. That's not a
lie!
* I'm not the sort of person who tries to be cool or trendy. I'm
definitely an individual.
* I don't have emotions about a lot of things. I rarely get angry, I
rarely cry. I guess I do get excited a lot, but I don't get sad and
enormously happy. I think a lot of people who talk about all that crap
are lying. Right now I'm just trying to maintain happiness - that's all
I really care about. Anyway, when you're my age and your hormones are
kicking in, there's not much besides sex that's on your mind.
* I hate speaking in front of a large audience. I don't know where it
came from...but its just this gut-wrenching fear of slipping up and
doing something horrible.
* One of my passions is to meet people and then imitate them. I love
doing that.
* I have the same problem as 'Edward Furlong' . I'm so thin!
* I hate my body.
* I'm nothing like Romeo in real life.
* I'm shy, but when the time comes to be wild, I'm fun-loving,
adventurous, and mysterious.
* It's tricky stuff. If you're not perfect in every film, then people say
'see, he was just lucky in one role'.
* On his career: "I admit I've done a few lousy roles in the beginning of
my career, like my role in Critters 3 (1991) . But at that age, you'll do anything
for attention!"
* People want you to be a crazy out-of-control teen brat. They want you
to be miserable, just like them. They don't want heroes. What they want
is to see you fall.
* Everywhere I go, somebody is staring at me. I don't know if people are
staring because they recognize me or because they think I'm a weirdo.
* On rumors: I've heard some pretty bad rumors...that I'm gay. If I want
to go to a party with a few male friends, it doesn't mean that I'm gay.
I don't see why I can't have friends of both sexes without rumors being
spread about me. It's crazy.
* People always like to make up stories. I am not planning on getting
married. Then again, I might wake up tomorrow and decide to get
married!
* If you hear of any incident about me - a fight, a change of clothes, a
little extra gel in the hair, don't believe it till you talk to me.
* I hate being selected as 'Babe of the Month' and being called
'hunk'.
* Fame is not the worst thing. I went to dinner the other night, and the
girls in the restaurant ignored me. It was so annoying.
* I insist on keeping a level head. I've maintained the same exact home
life that I've had for 20 years. All I see is more people looking at me
than before. But, you know, who cares? You just can't obsess yourself
with this fame stuff.
* My God, no! I hate this whole hunk thing! I feel when I see myself in
that, and these other cute faces, that I'm just part of this meat
factory, like, 'Wow! Here's the hunk of the month! This month we're
shoving Leonardo DiCaprio down your throat! Isn't he cute. Let's put
him on the cover and we'll sell so many more magazines...' That's
definitely not what I want to be, and I've tried real hard to get away
from that whole situation.
* If you can do what you do best and be happy, you're further along in
life than most people.
* The main thing for me right now is just to live my life with my family
and friends. They treat me like Leo, not 'Leonardo, Master Thespian'.
That's all I need to keep my sanity.
* The last thing I want to turn into is a fat Hollywood jerk. I was
brought up without much money and I was happy. I don't think that I
will strive for money or success and end up greedy or big-headed. That
only leads to unhappiness. I can still be down-to-earth and do this job
as long as I enjoy it.
* On success: "I've just been jolting along from one film to another. . .
. Now, it's sort of a shock to realize what I've achieved."
* Portraying emotionally ill characters gives me the chance to really
act.
* I'm just starting to scratch the surface of what makes me happy, and it
has taken me a while to admit that acting like a child and a jerk is
fun.
* On acting: "Don't think for a moment that I'm really like any of the
characters I play. That's why it's called acting."
* "It was pretty disheartening to be objectified like that. I wanted to
stop acting for a little bit. But it changed my life in a lot of ways,
but at the same time, I can't say that it didn't give me opportunities.
It made me, for the first time, in control of my career." - On
Titanic (1997)
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Lukey
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Posted on 09/10/07 08:56 AM.
hy...you are great actor and you look extraordinaly!!!!i like you a lot!!!
Posted on 08/30/07 04:56 AM.
Ther r no words 2 say for u u r jst Awesome!!!
Posted on 08/28/07 11:48 AM.
I LOVE UR FILMS AND I THINK U HAVE STRONG C,
Posted on 08/28/07 10:43 AM.
add me plz i really like when you did te movie titanic it's an inspiration for lovers everywhere
Posted on 08/22/07 12:00 PM.
you are amaizing!
Posted on 08/08/07 04:38 PM.
add me pleassssssssssssssssssssssse muah , u're my hero
Posted on 07/27/07 05:07 AM.
hi add me i am jasmen from england
Posted on 06/21/07 04:04 PM.
you are hansdsome.....