1991–1996: Career beginnings

In 1991, DiCaprio played an un-credited role in one episode of Roseanne.[34] He made his film
debut later that year as the stepson of an evil landlord in the low-budget horror direct-to-
video film Critters 3, a role he described as "your average, no-depth, standard kid with blond
hair."[35] DiCaprio prefers not to remember his role in Critters 3, which he describes as "possibly
one of the worst films of all time. I guess it was a good example to look back and make sure it
doesn't happen again."[36] Later that year, he became a recurring cast member on the
sitcom Growing Pains, playing Luke Brower, a homeless boy who is taken in by the Seaver
family.[37] Costar Joanna Kerns recalls DiCaprio being "especially intelligent and disarming for his
age" but also mischievous on set.[38] The teenage DiCaprio was cast by the producers to appeal
to the teenage female audiences, but when the show's ratings did not improve, DiCaprio left it.
[37]
 He was nominated for a Young Artist Award for Best Young Actor Co-starring in a Television
Series.[39]

Lasse Hallström directed DiCaprio in his first Academy Award-nominated role in What's Eating Gilbert
Grape (1993)

In 1992, DiCaprio played a supporting role in the first installment of the Poison Ivy film series,
[40]
 and was handpicked by Robert De Niro out of 400 young actors to play the lead role in Michael
Caton-Jones's This Boy's Life. He played opposite De Niro, who was acting as his stepfather,
and Ellen Barkin as his mother.[21][41] Caton-Jones has said DiCaprio did not know how to behave
on set; he applied a strict mentoring style that he said resulted in improvements in DiCaprio's
behavior.[38] Bilge Ebiri of Rolling Stone found it "an evocative, touching little movie, defined by
the powerful bond between Barkin and DiCaprio", praising his complex growth from "a wide-eyed
son to a rebellious greaser to an independent, sensitive young man". [40]
In 1993, DiCaprio co-starred as the intellectually disabled brother of Johnny Depp's character
in What's Eating Gilbert Grape, a comic-tragic odyssey of a dysfunctional Iowa family.
Director Lasse Hallström admitted he was initially looking for a less good-looking actor, but cast
DiCaprio when he contacted Caton-Jones and he had emerged as "the most observant actor"
among all who auditioned.[38][35] The film became a critical success,[42] earning 19-year-old DiCaprio
a National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor and nominations for a Golden
Globe Award and an Academy Award, making him the seventh-youngest nominee in the
category.[43] "The film's real show-stopping turn comes from Mr. DiCaprio", wrote The New York
Times critic Janet Maslin, "who makes Arnie's many tics so startling and vivid that at first he is
difficult to watch. The performance has a sharp, desperate intensity from beginning to
end."[44] Caryn James, also writing for The New York Times, said of his performances in This
Boy's Life and What's Eating Gilbert Grape: "He made the raw, emotional neediness of those
boys completely natural and powerful." [45]
DiCaprio's first effort of 1995 was in Sam Raimi's western film The Quick and the Dead. Sony
Pictures was dubious over DiCaprio's casting, and as a result, costar Sharon Stone paid his
salary herself.[46] The film was released to a dismal box office performance, barely grossing
$18.5 million in the US, and received mixed reviews from critics.[47] DiCaprio's next film in 1995
was The Basketball Diaries, a biopic, in which he played a teenage Jim Carroll as a drug-
addicted high school basketball player and writer. [48] DiCaprio next starred alongside David
Thewlis in Agnieszka Holland's erotic drama Total Eclipse, a fictionalized account of the
homosexual relationship between Arthur Rimbaud (DiCaprio) and Paul Verlaine (Thewlis). He
replaced River Phoenix, who died before filming began.[13] The film grossed only about $340,000
against its €6-million budget,[49] but has been included in the catalogue of Warner Archive
Collection.[50]
In 1996, DiCaprio starred opposite Claire Danes in Baz Luhrmann's film Romeo + Juliet, an
abridged modernization of William Shakespeare's romantic tragedy of the same name, which
retained the original Shakespearean dialogue. The project grossed $147 million worldwide, and
earned DiCaprio a Silver Bear for Best Actor at the 1997 Berlin International Film Festival.[51]
[52]
 Later that year, DiCaprio starred in Marvin's Room, a family drama revolving around two
sisters, played by Meryl Streep and Diane Keaton, who are reunited through tragedy after 17
years of estrangement. DiCaprio portrayed Hank, Streep's character's troubled son, who has
been committed to a mental asylum.[53] On his performance, Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment
Weekly commented: "The deeply gifted DiCaprio [...] keeps right up with these older pros
[Keaton and Streep]. The three are so full-bodied and so powerfully affecting that you're carried
along on the pleasure of being in the presence of their extraordinary talent." [53] Reviewing his
works of his early career, David Thomson of The Guardian called DiCaprio "a revelation"
in What's Eating Gilbert Grape, "very moving" in This Boy's Life, "suitably desperate" in The
Basketball Diaries and "a vital spark" in Romeo + Juliet.[54]

1997–2001: Titanic and stardom
"Leo-mania" redirects here.
DiCaprio turned down an offer to star in the film Boogie Nights (1997) to star opposite Kate
Winslet in James Cameron's Titanic (1997) as members of different social classes who fall in
love aboard RMS  Titanic during its ill-fated maiden voyage.[55] DiCaprio initially had doubts about
playing the role, but was eventually encouraged to pursue the part by Cameron, who strongly
believed in his acting ability.[56] With a production budget of more than $200 million, the film was
the most expensive ever made and was shot at Rosarito Beach where a replica of the ship was
created.[57] 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, [b] and
transformed DiCaprio into a superstar, resulting in intense adoration among teenage girls and
young women in general that became known as "Leo-mania", [60][61] comparable to Beatlemania in
the 1960s.[60] The film won 11 Academy Awards—the most for any film—including Best Picture,
but DiCaprio's failure to gain a nomination led to a protest against the Academy of Motion Picture
Arts and Sciences by more than 200 fans.[62][63] He was nominated for other high-profile awards,
including a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor.[64]

DiCaprio at a press conference for The Beach in February 2000

DiCaprio stated in 2000: "I have no connection with 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." [65] Bilge Ebiri called his role
in the film his best in 2015, writing that DiCaprio and Winslet "infuse their earnest back-and-forth
with so much genuine emotion that it's hard not to get swept up in their doomed love affair". [40]
DiCaprio played a self-mocking role in a small appearance in Woody Allen's caustic satire of the
fame industry, Celebrity (1998), whom Bilge Ebiri labeled "the best thing in the film". [66][40] That
year, he also starred in the dual roles of the villainous King Louis XIV and his secret, sympathetic
twin brother Philippe in Randall Wallace's The Man in the Iron Mask, based on the same-titled
1939 film. The film received mixed to negative response,[67] but became a box office success,
grossing $180 million internationally.[68] Entertainment Weekly critic Owen Gleiberman wrote that
DiCaprio did not look old enough to play the part, but praised him as "a fluid and instinctive actor,
with the face of a mischievous angel". [69] DiCaprio was awarded a Golden Raspberry Award for
Worst Screen Couple for both incarnations the following year.[70]
DiCaprio was cast in American Psycho (2000) in 1998 for a reported salary of $20 million, but left
the project soon after when he failed to agree with Oliver Stone on the film's direction and took
the lead role in The Beach instead.[71] The latter, an adaption of Alex Garland's 1996 novel of the
same name, saw him play an American backpacking tourist looking for the perfect way of life in a
secret island commune in the Gulf of Thailand. Budgeted at $50 million, the film earned about
three times more at the box office,[72] but was negatively reviewed by critics, and earned him a
nomination for the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor.[73][74] Todd McCarthy of Variety noted
that his character is "too much the American Everyman" and "DiCaprio, while perfectly
watchable," failed to give the character the unique marks to make him dimensional. [75]
In the mid 1990s, DiCaprio appeared in the mostly improvised short film called Don's Plum as a
favor to aspiring director R. D. Robb.[21] When Robb decided to expand the black-and-white film to
feature length, DiCaprio and costar Tobey Maguire had its release blocked by court order,
arguing they never intended to make it a theatrical release, as it would have commercial value
thanks to their stardom.[21] The film eventually premiered at the 2001 Berlin International Film
Festival, where it was well received by critics.[76]

2002–2009: Move into film production

DiCaprio with Martin Scorsese and Cameron Diaz at a Gangs of New York event circa 2002

DiCaprio turned down the role of Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the
Clones (2002).[77] His first film that year was the biographical crime drama Catch Me If You Can,
based on the life of Frank Abagnale Jr., who before his 19th birthday committed check fraud to
make millions in the 1960s. Directed by Steven Spielberg, the film was shot across 147 different
locations in 52 days, making it "the most adventurous, super-charged movie-making" DiCaprio
had experienced yet.[78] The film received critical acclaim and was an international box office
success, becoming DiCaprio's highest-grossing release since Titanic with $351 million
worldwide.[79] Roger Ebert praised his performance, and found his departure from dark and
troubled characters "breezy and charming",[80] while two Entertainment Weekly critics in 2018
called it DiCaprio's best role, labeling him "delightfully persuasive, deceptive, flirtatious, and
sometimes tragic—and we dare you to find a better role, if you can". [81] DiCaprio received his third
Golden Globe nomination for his performance in the film. [82]
Also in 2002, DiCaprio starred in Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York, a historical drama set in
the mid-19th century in the Five Points district of New York City. Director Scorsese initially
struggled selling his idea of realizing the film until DiCaprio became interested in playing
protagonist Amsterdam Vallon, a young leader of an Irish-American street gang, and
thus Miramax Films got involved with financing the project.[83] Nonetheless production on the film
was plagued by blown-out budgets and producer-director disagreements, resulting in an eight-
month shoot and, at $103 million, the most expensive film Scorsese had ever made. [83] Gangs of
New York earned $193 million worldwide and received positive critical response. [84][85] DiCaprio's
performance, although well-received, was overshadowed by that of Daniel Day-Lewis according
to many critics.[81][86]
In 2004, DiCaprio founded the production company Appian Way Productions, taking its name
from the Italian road of the same name.[29] He was interested in finding "out of the box" material
from an actor's perspective and developing it in a way that stayed true to its original source. He
said, "A lot of times, I'd gone through the process of getting a great book or finding a great story,
and then too many people get their hands on it and it turns into something entirely different. It is
very difficult to reverse that process."[87] DiCaprio's first producing task was as an executive
producer in Niels Mueller' The Assassination of Richard Nixon, starring Sean Penn as Samuel
Byck, who attempted to assassinate US president Richard Nixon in 1974.[88] It was screened in
the Un Certain Regard section at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.[89] DiCaprio and Scorsese
reunited for a biopic of the eccentric and obsessive American film director and aviation
pioneer Howard Hughes in The Aviator (2004), which DiCaprio also co-produced under Appian
Way. DiCaprio initially developed the project with Michael Mann, who decided against directing it
after working on biopics The Insider (1999) and Ali (2001).[86] DiCaprio eventually pitched John
Logan's script to Scorsese, who quickly signed on to direct. The Aviator became a critical and
financial success.[90] Simond Braund of Empire wrote DiCaprio stood out in scenes depicting
Hughes' paranoia and obsession, "dispelling fears that he hasn't the weight to carry such a
complex, forceful role".[91] He received a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor and his
first Academy Award for Best Actor nomination.[92]
In 2006, DiCaprio starred in the crime film The Departed and the political war thriller Blood
Diamond. In Scorsese's The Departed DiCaprio played the role of Billy Costigan, a state trooper
working undercover in the Irish Mob in Boston, someone he characterizes as in a "constant, 24-
hour panic attack". DiCaprio especially liked the experience of working with costar Jack
Nicholson, describing a scene with him as "one of the most memorable moments" of his life as
an actor.[93] In preparation, DiCaprio visited Boston to interact with people associated with the
Irish Mob and gained 15 pounds (6.8 kg) of muscle.[94] Highly anticipated, the film was released to
positive reviews and became one of the highest-rated wide release films of 2006. [95] Peter
Travers of Rolling Stone praised DiCaprio's and costar Matt Damon's "explosive, emotionally
complex performances", but felt that Nicholson overshadowed the two.[96] Budgeted at
$90 million, the film grossed $291 million and emerged as DiCaprio and Scorsese's highest-
grossing collaboration to date. [97] His performance in The Departed also earned him a Satellite
Award for Best Supporting Actor.[98]
DiCaprio at the red carpet at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival

In Blood Diamond, DiCaprio starred as a diamond smuggler from Rhodesia who is involved in
the Sierra Leone Civil War. While filming, he worked with 24 orphaned children from the SOS
Children's Village in Maputo, Mozambique, and said he was touched by his interactions with
them.[99] To prepare, he spent six months in Africa, learned about camouflage from people in
South African military and interviewed and recorded people in the country to improve his South
African accent.[100] The film received generally favorable reviews,[101] and DiCaprio was praised for
the authenticity of his South African accent, known as difficult to imitate. [102] Claudia Puig of
the USA Today called it "the first time the boyish actor has truly seemed like a man on film"
and Ann Hornaday of the Washington Post positively noted his growth as an actor since The
Departed.[103][104] Both the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild nominated DiCaprio in the
Best Actor category for each of his 2006 features, and DiCaprio earned his third Academy Award
nomination for Blood Diamond.[105]
In 2007, DiCaprio produced the comedy drama Gardener of Eden (2007), which, according
to The Hollywood Reporter's Frank Scheck, "lack[ed] the necessary dramatic urgency or black
humor to connect with audiences".[106] Shortly after, he created, produced, co-wrote and
narrated The 11th Hour, a documentary about people's relationship to nature and global
warming. It won the Earthwatch Environmental Film Award through the National Geographic
Channel in March 2008.[107] DiCaprio was also a creator and an executive producer
for Greensburg, an American television series broadcast on the Planet Green television network.
The show takes place in Greensburg, Kansas, and is about rebuilding the town in
a sustainable way after being hit by the May 2007 EF5 tornado; it ran for three seasons until
2010.[108]
In 2008, DiCaprio starred in Body of Lies, a spy film based on the novel of the same name. It tells
the story of three men battling a terrorist organization in the Middle East. [109] DiCaprio dyed his
hair brown and wore brown contacts for the role, which he considered a throwback to political
films of the 1970s like The Parallax View (1974) and Three Days of the Condor (1975).[109] The
film received mixed reviews from critics,[110] and grossed $115 million against a budget of
$67.5 million.[111] Later that year, DiCaprio reunited with Kate Winslet to film the
drama Revolutionary Road (2008), directed by Winslet's then-husband Sam Mendes. As both
actors had been reluctant to make romantic films similar to Titanic, it was Winslet who suggested
that both should work with her on a film adaptation of the 1961 novel of the same
name by Richard Yates after reading the script by Justin Haythe, knowing that plot had little in
common with the 1997 blockbuster.[112] Once DiCaprio agreed to the film, it went almost
immediately into production.[113] Playing a couple in a failing marriage in the 1950s, DiCaprio and
Winslet spent some time together in preparation, and DiCaprio felt claustrophobic on the small
set they used.[114][115] He saw his character as "unheroic" and "slightly cowardly" and someone
"willing to be just a product of his environment". [116] Marshall Sella of GQ called it the "most
mature and memorable performance of his lifetime";[115] DiCaprio earned his seventh Golden
Globes nomination for the film.[117] He ended the 2000s by producing director Jaume Collet-
Serra's psychological horror thriller film Orphan (2009), starring Vera Farmiga, Peter
Sarsgaard and Isabelle Fuhrman. Although the film received mixed reviews, it was a commercial
success.[118]

2010–2013: Collaboration with Martin Scorsese

DiCaprio at the premiere of Shutter Island at the 60th Berlin Film Festival in 2010

DiCaprio continued to collaborate with Scorsese in the 2010 psychological thriller film Shutter
Island, based on the 2003 novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane. He played Edward
"Teddy" Daniels, a U.S. Marshal investigating a psychiatric facility located on an island, who
comes to question his own sanity. DiCaprio and Scorsese quickly became interested in the
project in 2007, and the former co-produced the film under Appian Way with Phoenix Pictures.
[119]
 Because of the film's plot involving disturbing scenes, DiCaprio had nightmares of mass
murder during production.[120] The film was released to mixed reviews; Peter Bradshaw of The
Guardian praised Scorsese's direction and the acting but criticized its "silly twist ending", calling it
"supremely exasperating".[121] Peter Travers called it DiCaprio's "most haunting and emotionally
complex performance yet", and particularly liked his cave scene with costar Patricia Clarkson.
[122]
 The film was a commercial success, grossing $294 million worldwide.[123]
Also in 2010, DiCaprio starred in Christopher Nolan's ensemble science-fiction film Inception.
Inspired by the experience of lucid dreaming and dream incubation,[124] the film features Dom
Cobb (DiCaprio), an "extractor" who enters the dreams of others to obtain information that is
otherwise inaccessible. Cobb is promised a chance to regain his old life in exchange for planting
an idea in a corporate target's mind. [125] DiCaprio was "intrigued by this concept—this dream-heist
notion and how this character's gonna unlock his dreamworld and ultimately affect his real life".
[126]
 Released to critical acclaim, Inception grossed over $825 million worldwide to become
DiCaprio's second highest-grossing film. [127][128] To star in this film, DiCaprio agreed to a pay cut
from his $20 million fee, in favor of splitting first-dollar gross points, meaning he received a
percentage of cinema ticket sales. The risk paid off, as DiCaprio earned $50 million from the film,
becoming his highest payday yet.[129]

DiCaprio (first from the right) with the cast of Inception at the premiere in July 2010

After playing demanding roles in Shutter Island and Inception, DiCaprio took a break from acting,
as he wanted some time for himself.[130] In 2011, he starred alongside Armie Hammer and Naomi
Watts in Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar, a biopic about J. Edgar Hoover. The film focuses on the
career of the FBI director from the Palmer Raids onward, including an examination of his private
life as an alleged closeted homosexual.[131] Reviews toward the film were mixed; critics
commended DiCaprio's performance but felt that, overall, the film lacked coherence. [132] Roger
Ebert praised DiCaprio's "fully-realized, subtle and persuasive performance, hinting at more than
Hoover ever revealed, perhaps even to himself."[133] Also in 2011, he produced Catherine
Hardwicke's romantic horror film Red Riding Hood, which is very loosely based movie on the folk
tale Little Red Riding Hood. Although it was poorly received by critics—Mary Pols
of Time magazine named it one of the Top 10 Worst Movies of 2011—it had moderate box-office
returns.[134][135] He was also an executive producer for George Clooney's political drama The Ides
of March, an adaptation of Beau Willimon's 2008 play Farragut North.[136]
In 2012, DiCaprio starred as a plantation owner, Calvin Candie, in Quentin Tarantino's Spaghetti
Western, Django Unchained. After reading the script, DiCaprio was uncomfortable with the extent
of racism portrayed in the film, but his co-stars and Tarantino convinced him not to sugarcoat it.
[137]
 While filming, DiCaprio accidentally cut his hand on glass, but continued filming, and
Tarantino elected to use the take in the final product. [138] The film received critical acclaim; [139] a
writer for Wired magazine commended him for playing a villainous role and his "blood-chilling"
performance.[140] The film earned DiCaprio his ninth nomination at the Golden Globes. [141] Django
Unchained grossed $424 million worldwide on a production budget of $100 million.[142]
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, co-
starring Carey Mulligan and Tobey Maguire. DiCaprio liked the idea of playing a man who
realizes his imaginations, someone he characterizes as "a hopeless romantic, a completely
obsessed wacko or a dangerous gangster, clinging to wealth". [143] The film received mixed reviews
from critics, but DiCaprio's performance was praised, and earned him an AACTA Award for Best
Actor in a Leading Role.[144][145] Critic Rafer Guzman of Newsday wrote that DiCaprio was not only
"tough [...] but also vulnerable, touching, funny, a faker, a human. It's a tremendous, hard-won
performance."[146] Matt Zoller Seitz of Roger Ebert's website described his performance as "the
movie's greatest and simplest special effect," and "iconic—maybe his career best". [147] The film
grossed $348 million worldwide.[148]
Three films were produced by DiCaprio under Appian Way in 2013—the ensemble crime
thriller Runner Runner, which The Guardian's Xan Brooks described as "a lazy, trashy film that
barely goes through the motions";[149] the thriller Out of the Furnace, a critical and commercial
failure;[150] and the black comedy-drama The Wolf of Wall Street. DiCaprio reunited with Scorsese
for the fifth time in The Wolf of Wall Street, a film based on the life of stockbroker Jordan
Belfort (played by DiCaprio), who was arrested in the late 1990s for securities fraud and money
laundering.[151] DiCaprio wanted to play Belfort ever since he had read his autobiography and won
a bidding war with Warner Bros. against Brad Pitt/Paramount Pictures for the rights to Belfort's
memoir in 2007.[152][153] He was fond of Belfort's honest and unapologetic portrayal of his actual
experiences in the book, and was inspired by the financial crisis of 2007–2008 to make the film.
[87]
 The Wolf of Wall Street received highly positive reviews for Scorsese's direction and
DiCaprio's comedic performance. [154] In his review for The Hollywood Reporter, Todd McCarthy
wrote of his "largest and best screen performance, one in which he lets loose as he never has
before, is not protective of vanity or a sense of cool and, one feels, gets completely to the bottom
of his character" and lauded him for playing his role without any caution. [155] The film earned him
the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy and nominations for the
Academy Award for Best Actor and Best Picture.[156][157] In January 2013, DiCaprio said he would
take a long break from acting to "fly around the world doing good for the environment." [158]

2014–present: Emphasis on documentaries

DiCaprio was an executive producer on Virunga, a 2014 British documentary film about four
people fighting to protect the world's last mountain gorillas from war and poaching.[159] The film
premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2014. Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret was
another documentary film that year for which he was an executive producer—he took part in the
new cut released exclusively on Netflix that September. It explores the impact of animal
agriculture on the environment, and investigates the policies of environmental organizations on
this issue.[160]
DiCaprio at the 2016 premiere of The Revenant

In 2015, DiCaprio produced and played fur trapper Hugh Glass in Alejandro G. Iñárritu's survival
drama The Revenant. DiCaprio has described it as his most difficult film. He had to eat a raw
slab of bison's liver and sleep in animal carcasses, and suffered hypothermia. [161][162] He also
learned to shoot a musket, build a fire, speak two Native American languages
(Pawnee and Arikara) and apply ancient healing techniques. [161] Built on a budget of $135 million,
the film earned $533 million worldwide.[163] It was also well received by critics,[164] and DiCaprio's
performance garnered universal acclaim;[165][166] Mark Kermode of The Guardian wrote of
DiCaprio's "brainstorming" portrayal and "his turn to triumph with a performance which relies
more upon physicality than the spoken word", and Nick De Semlyen of Empire noted his "raw
performance helps elevate what could have been just another man-versus-nature drama". [167]
[168]
 The film earned him numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe,
a BAFTA, an SAG and a Critic's Choice Award for Best Actor.[169][170] Also in 2015, he was an
executive producer for Catching the Sun, a documentary film on the growth of the solar
power industry that premiered on Netflix in April 2016. [171] DiCaprio signed on to produce and star
in The Crowded Room (with direction by Alejandro González Iñárritu), an adaptation of the story
of Billy Milligan; it has been in development hell since before he got involved and has yet
remained that way as of 2020.[172]
For the next three years, DiCaprio narrated documentaries and served as a producer for films. In
2016, he was an executive producer for The Ivory Game, which examines the ivory trade;
[173]
 produced, hosted, and narrated the documentary Before the Flood about climate change;
[174]
 and produced the crime drama Live by Night. The last of these received largely unenthusiastic
reviews and failed to recoup its $65 million production budget.[175] He continued to produce films
two years later—the psychological horror movie Delirium,[176] and the eponymous retelling of the
legend Robin Hood, an action adventure, which proved to be a critical and commercial
disappointment.[177]
After narrating the 2019 global warming documentary Ice on Fire,[178] DiCaprio returned to acting
following a break of four years in Quentin Tarantino's comedy-drama Once Upon a Time in
Hollywood, which traces the relationship between Rick Dalton (DiCaprio), an aging television
actor and his stuntman, Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt). To help the film's financing, DiCaprio and Pitt
agreed to take a pay cut, and they each received $10 million.[179] DiCaprio liked the experience of
working with Pitt; Tarantino described the pair as "the most exciting star dynamic duo"
since Robert Redford and Paul Newman.[180][181] DiCaprio was fascinated with the film's homage to
Hollywood and focus on the friendship between his and Pitt's characters. He drew from real-life
experience of witnessing the struggles and rejections of his actor friends in the industry.
[181]
 Reviews for the film and DiCaprio's performance were positive; [182] a critic for Business
Insider called it the best performance of his career and Ian Sandwell of Digital Spy particularly
liked DiCaprio's and Pitt's chemistry, which he said helps bring authenticity to their characters'
connection.[183][184] He received nominations for an Oscar, a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award for
Best Actor.[185][186][187] The film earned $374 million against its $90-million budget. [188] In May 2020, he
made a brief appearance in the finale of the miniseries The Last Dance.[189]
In February 2019, National Geographic ordered a television series adaption of The Right Stuff,
based on the 1973 book of the same name, with DiCaprio as executive producer. The series had
been in development at National Geographic since July 2017. In May 2020, the series was
moved to Disney+ and released on October 2020. [190][191][192]
Upcoming projects
In August 2015, it was announced that Martin Scorsese will direct an adaptation of Erik
Larson's The Devil in the White City starring DiCaprio.[193] In 2017, Paramount announced that it
has acquired the movie rights for an English-language adaptation of The Black Hand, which will
star DiCaprio as turn of the 20th century police officer Joe Petrosino.[194] Later that year,
Paramount won a bidding war against Universal Pictures for the rights to adapt Walter Isaacson's
biography of Leonardo da Vinci. The studio bought the rights under its deal with DiCaprio's
Appian Way, which said that it planned to produce the film with DiCaprio as the star. [195][196] As of
September 2018, DiCaprio is set to produce and star in Roosevelt, a biopic of former U.S.
President Theodore Roosevelt, with Scorsese as the director. [197] That October, he was cast in
Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon based on the book of the same name by David Grann.[198]
In October 2020, it was announced that DiCaprio will star in an Adam McKay-directed comedy
film for Netflix called Don't Look Up, featuring an ensemble cast including Jennifer
Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett, Jonah Hill, Timothée Chalamet, Kid Cudi, Matthew
Perry, and Ariana Grande. He joined the project as COVID-19 pandemic delays pushed back its
original, April 2020 production schedule. He is slated to film the project in tandem with
Scorsese's next film Killers of the Flower Moon.[199]

Reception and acting style

Early in his career, DiCaprio gained a reputation for his intense partying with his male friends.
[38]
 He said people's perception of him was exaggerated, adding, "They want you miserable, just
like them. They don't want heroes; what they want is to see you fall." [13] In 1998, he
sued Playgirl magazine over plans to publish a fully nude picture of him. [200] The New York
Times' Caryn James has credited DiCaprio for being one of the few actors to turn his success
into "a new form of old-fashioned Hollywood stardom that uses celebrity to advance social
causes yet rarely lets the public beyond the glittering veil of the photo op". [45] Carole Cadwalladr
of The Guardian has said DiCaprio is "polite, charming, makes jokes, engages eye contact. And
manages [...] to give almost no hint whatsoever of his actual personality." [201]
"Life can get pretty monotonous. Acting is like living multiple lives. When you make a movie, you go off to
different places, live different cultures, investigate somebody else's reality, and you try to manifest that to the best
of your ability. It is incredibly eye-opening. That's why I love acting. There's nothing as transformative as what a
film, a documentary, can do to get people to care about something else besides their own lives."
—DiCaprio on his love of acting[18]

DiCaprio is regarded as one of the finest actors of his generation. [202][203][204] As he achieved
international stardom after Titanic (1997), it intensified his image as a teen idol and romantic
lead, both of which he sought to dissociate himself from. [61] He has said he feels nervous starring
in big-budget studio films due to their hype and marketing campaigns. As an actor, he likes to
look at film as a "relevant art form, like a painting or sculpture. A hundred years from now, people
will still be watching that movie." [205] He is drawn to roles based on real-life people, and stories told
in specific periods.[18] According to Caryn James, DiCaprio is unafraid of working on "offbeat
projects by first-rate directors", a risk that has led to "misbegotten" projects like The
Beach (2000),[45] but also to his successful collaborations with Martin Scorsese on several
projects.[206][207] DiCaprio has described his relationship with the director as "pretty much a dream
come true for me", and admires his knowledge of film, crediting him for teaching him its history
and importance.[201] Scorsese, on his part, has said, "Leo will give me the emotion where I least
expect it and could only hope for in about three or four scenes. And he can do it take after
take."[208] Jesse Hassenger of The A.V. Club believes both artists have benefited from the
projects, which have helped define their careers in the 2000s. [209]
Agnieszka Holland, who directed DiCaprio in Total Eclipse (1995), describes him as "one of the
most mature actors I've ever worked with", and admires his "courageous" choice of roles. [202] She
remarked that he does not apply method acting, but is "doing some trick which is pretty
mysterious to everyone watching—frankly even for the director. Look at him on screen and, for
the moment of the shot, he really becomes the character." [202] Film critic Philip French, writing
for The Observer, has called DiCaprio a "superb actor who hasn't yet quite become an adult",
and identified a theme of characters in the process of becoming a man. He wrote that DiCaprio's
inclination toward films about dysfunctional families and characters seeking a father figure allude
to his own troubled childhood. [201] DiCaprio often plays characters who themselves are playing
roles, which according to Caryn James "looks simple on screen but is immensely sophisticated".
[45]
 He tends to play antiheroes and characters who lose their mental stability as the narrative
progresses.[210][211] DiCaprio is particularly known for his ability to heavily commit to each role he
plays; Colin Covert of The Seattle Times noted how this quality sets him apart from most of his
contemporaries and "redefines film stardom". [212][213]
Several media outlets, such as People,[28] Empire,[214] and Harper's Bazaar,[215] have included
DiCaprio in their listings of the most attractive men. He has said he does not believe in focusing
on appearance—as this is only temporary and can negatively affect one's career—and looks for
career longevity instead.[216] In 2005, DiCaprio was made a commander of the Ordre des Arts et
des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture for his contributions to the arts.[217] In 2016, he was
named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine.[218] He was included
on Forbes' annual list of the world's highest-paid actors in 2008 and from 2010 to 2016 with
respective earnings of $45 million, $28 million, $77 million, $37 million, $39 million, $29 million
and $27 million, topping the list in 2011. The magazine has praised DiCaprio's ability to star in
risky, R-rated films that become box office successes.[219] The Hollywood Reporter listed him
among the 100 most powerful people in entertainment from 2016 to 2019. [220] In the same
magazine, Tatiana Siegel credits DiCaprio for being a rare actor to have a successful career
"without ever having made a comic book movie, family film or pre-branded franchise. Leo is the
franchise."[221] Stacey Wilson Hunt, analyzing his career in New York magazine in 2016, noted
DiCaprio, unlike most of his contemporaries, had not starred in a failed film in the previous ten
years.[202] Of his success, DiCaprio says, "My attitude is the same as when I started. I feel very
connected to that fifteen-year-old kid who got his first movie." [181]
DiCaprio has cited James Dean as one of his favorite actors and strongest acting influences.
[222]
 He recalled, "I remember being incredibly moved by Jimmy Dean, in East of Eden. There was
something so raw and powerful about that performance. His vulnerability...his confusion about
his entire history, his identity, his desperation to be loved. That performance just broke my
heart."[223]

Other ventures
Environmental activism
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and DiCaprio at the Our Ocean Conference at the U.S. Department of
State in 2016

DiCaprio is identified as one of the most active celebrities in the climate change movement.
[224]
 According to him, he was eager to learn about ecology from an early age, watching
documentaries on rain forest depletion and the loss of species and habitats. [225] He has said
environment is more important to him than spirituality, and that he is agnostic.[226] He established
the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation in 1998, a non-profit organization devoted to promoting
environmental awareness.[227] Although concerned with all areas of the environment, it focuses on
global warming, preserving Earth's biodiversity and supporting renewable energy. It has worked
on projects in over 40 countries and has produced two short web documentaries, Water
Planet and Global Warning.[228] The foundation has also funded debt-for-nature swaps.
[229]
 DiCaprio has received praise from environmental groups, [230] and accolades, including the
Martin Litton Environment Award in 2001 from Environment Now and the Environmental
Leadership Award in 2003 from Global Green USA.[231] He has been an active supporter of
numerous environmental organizations and sat on the board of the World Wildlife Fund, Global
Green USA, and International Fund for Animal Welfare.[228][232]
DiCaprio has owned environment-friendly electric-hybrid vehicles and his home is powered
by solar panels.[230][233] His use of private jets and large yachts has attracted criticism due to their
large carbon footprints.[234] DiCaprio states that global warming is the world's "number-one
environmental challenge".[235] He chaired the national Earth Day celebration in 2000, where he
interviewed Bill Clinton and they discussed plans to deal with global warming and the
environment.[236] DiCaprio presented at the 2007 American leg of Live Earth, and in 2010 earned
a nomination for the VH1 Do Something Award for his environmental work.[237]
"Climate change is real, it is happening right now. It is the most urgent threat facing our entire species, and we
need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating. We need to support leaders around the world who do
not speak for the big polluters, but who speak for all of humanity, for the indigenous people of the world, for the
billions and billions of underprivileged people out there who would be most affected by this. For our children's
children, and for those people out there whose voices have been drowned out by the politics of greed."
—DiCaprio during his acceptance speech at the 2016 Academy Awards[238]

In November 2010, DiCaprio donated $1 million to the Wildlife Conservation Society at Russia's

Tiger Summit. DiCaprio's persistence in reaching the event after encountering two plane delays
caused then Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to describe him as a "muzhik" or "real man".[239][240] In
2011, DiCaprio joined the Animal Legal Defense Fund's campaign to free Tony, a tiger who had
spent the last decade at the Tiger Truck Stop in Grosse Tête, Louisiana.[241] A benefit "11th Hour"
fine art auction he organized in 2013, raised nearly $40 million for his foundation. He told
attendees, "Bid as if the fate of the planet depended on us."[242] It became the world's highest-
grossing environmental charity event ever held.[243] In 2014, he was appointed as a United
Nations representative on climate change, and later that year he made an opening statement to
members of the UN Climate Summit.[244] In 2015, he announced his intention to divest from fossil
fuels.[245] He again spoke at the UN in April 2016 prior to the signing of the Paris Climate Change
Agreement.[246]
At a 2016 meeting with Pope Francis, DiCaprio gave a charity donation and spoke about
environmental issues. A few days later, possibly influenced by this meeting, the Pope said he
would act in a charity film.[c] DiCaprio traveled to Indonesia in early 2016 where he criticized the
government's palm oil industry's slash-and-burn forest clearing methods.[248] In July 2016, his
foundation awarded $15.6 million to help protect wildlife and the rights of Native Americans,
along with combating climate change. [249] That October, DiCaprio joined Mark Ruffalo in North
Dakota in support of the Standing Rock tribe's opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline.[250] In
April 2017, he protested against President Trump's inaction on climate change by attending
the People's Climate March.[251] In July, a charity auction and celebrity concert put on by
DiCaprio's foundation had raised over $30 million in its opening days.[252] DiCaprio's foundation
donated $100 million in December 2018 to fight climate change.[253] In 2019, DiCaprio's
environmental NGO Earth Alliance has pledged $5 million in order to help protect
the Amazon after fires destroyed large parts of the rainforest in July and August of that year.

Political activism
During the 2004 presidential election, DiCaprio campaigned and donated to John
Kerry's presidential bid. He gave $2,300 to Barack Obama's presidential campaign in the 2008
election, the maximum contribution an individual could give in that election cycle, and $5,000
to Obama's 2012 campaign.[254] DiCaprio endorsed Hillary Clinton for the 2016 presidential
election.[255] In March 2020, DiCaprio attended a fundraiser for Joe Biden at the home of
Paramount Pictures executive Sherry Lansing.[256]
Prior to the 2020 election, DiCaprio narrated a Netflix documentary series about voting rights,
stating, "All of us may have been created equal. But we'll never actually be equal until we all
vote. So don't wait."[257] On social media, DiCaprio urged voters to make a plan to cast their
ballots[258] and to draw attention to voter suppression [259] and restrictive voter ID laws,
citing VoteRiders as a source of information and assistance.[260]
Philanthropy
In 1998, DiCaprio and his mother donated $35,000 for a "Leonardo DiCaprio Computer Center"
at the library in Los Feliz, the site of his childhood home. It was rebuilt after the 1994 Northridge
earthquake and opened in early 1999.[261] In 2010, he donated $1 million to relief efforts in Haiti
after the earthquake.[262] In April 2013, DiCaprio donated $61,000 to the gay rights group GLAAD.
[263]
 In 2016, DiCaprio took part in an annual fundraising gala event of Children of Armenia Fund,
as a special guest of his close friend and gala's honorary chair Tony Shafrazi. DiCaprio
contributed $65,000 to the cause.[264] After Hurricane Harvey in 2017, DiCaprio provided $1 million
to the United Way Harvey Recovery Fund through his foundation. [265] In 2020, DiCaprio's
foundation donated $3 million to Australia bushfire relief efforts.[266]

Personal life

DiCaprio in 2010

DiCaprio's personal life has been the subject of widespread media attention. He rarely grants
interviews and is reticent about his private life, [45][202] but he has been the subject of several articles
detailing his involvement with women aged 25 or younger for the past two decades. [d] In 1999,
DiCaprio met Brazilian model Gisele Bündchen, whom he dated until 2005. [270] He was
romantically involved with Israeli model Bar Refaeli from 2005 to 2011, during which time he met
with Israeli president Shimon Peres and visited Refaeli's hometown of Hod HaSharon.[271][272] In
2005, DiCaprio's face was severely injured when model Aretha Wilson hit him over the head with
a broken bottle at a Hollywood party. She pled guilty and was sentenced in 2010 to two years in
prison.[273] DiCaprio dated German fashion model Toni Garrn from July 2013 until December
2014, and later in 2017.[274]
DiCaprio owns a home in Los Angeles and an apartment in Battery Park City.[275] In 2009, he
bought an island, Blackadore Caye, off mainland Belize—on which he is set to open an
environment-friendly resort[276][277]—and in 2014, he purchased the original Dinah Shore residence
designed by mid-century modern architect Donald Wexler in Palm Springs, California.[278]
In June 2017, when The Wolf of Wall Street producer Red Granite Pictures was involved in
the 1MDB money laundering scandal, the Bruno Manser Funds, a Swiss-based charity focused
on protecting the Borneo's rainforest, called on DiCaprio[279] to turn over the gifts he received from
business associates at the production company to the US government [280] including the Best Actor
Oscar that Marlon Brando won for his role in 1954's On the Waterfront, a $3.2 million Pablo
Picasso painting and a $9 million Jean-Michel Basquiat collage.[281]

Filmography and awards

Main articles: Leonardo DiCaprio filmography and awards and nominations
According to the online portal Box Office Mojo and the review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes,
DiCaprio's most critically and commercially successful films include What's Eating Gilbert
Grape (1993)[282], Romeo + Juliet (1996), Titanic (1997), Catch Me If You Can (2002), Gangs of
New York (2002), The Aviator (2004), The Departed (2006), Blood Diamond (2006), Shutter
Island (2010), Inception (2010), Django Unchained (2012), The Great Gatsby (2013)[283], The Wolf
of Wall Street (2013), The Revenant (2015) and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019). His
films have grossed a total of $7.2 billion worldwide.[128][284]
DiCaprio has been recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the
following performances:[285][286]

 66th Academy Awards (1994): Best Supporting Actor, nomination, for What's Eating

Gilbert Grape
 77th Academy Awards (2005): Best Actor, nomination, for The Aviator
 79th Academy Awards (2007): Best Actor, nomination, for Blood Diamond
 86th Academy Awards (2014): Best Picture and Best Actor, nominations, for The Wolf of
Wall Street
 88th Academy Awards (2016): Best Actor, win, for The Revenant
 92nd Academy Awards (2020): Best Actor, nomination, for Once Upon a Time in
Hollywood
DiCaprio has won three Golden Globe Awards: Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for The
Aviator and The Revenant and Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for The Wolf of
Wall Street,[287] and a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for The Revenant.[288]