Like Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio made his feature film debut in a low-budget horror movie – in DiCaprio’s case the forgettable “Critters 3”. Of course, no one knew at the time that in six years DiCaprio would become the biggest movie star on earth with “Titanic”, which is still the highest-grossing film of all time. Since then he has courageously battled his teen heartthrob image and emerged as a highly respected dramatic actor.
According to oft-told legend, the unborn DiCaprio derived his name after kicking while his mother was gazing at a Leonardo da Vinci painting in Italy. Regardless of that story’s truth, DiCaprio was born on November 11, 1974 far from the reverent halls of Italian art museums in Hollywood, California, where he grew up in the then-slum neighborhood of Los Feliz. He first appeared on screen in the 1970s sitcom “Romper Room” at age five, long before he starred in the 1989 TV version of “Parenthood” where he met best friend Tobey Maguire. The eager young actor soon appeared in “Critters 3”, “Growing Pains”, and “Poison Ivy” before finding his early star-making role with 1993’s “This Boy’s Life”. As a confused teenager living under an abusive stepfather, DiCaprio earned wide acclaim for the role. In the same year he received an Oscar nomination for playing the mentally handicapped Arnie in “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?”.
LeoMania was on the horizon after DiCaprio’s early successes. Well-received turns in the Sharon Stone vehicle “The Quick and the Dead”, the incendiary “Basketball Diaries”, and “Marvin’s Room” followed, but it was the 1996 Baz Luhrmann opus “Romeo + Juliet” that catapulted him to megastar status. His first moment on screen – brushing away his swoopy bangs while Radiohead’s “Talk Show Host” plays on the soundtrack – had teenage girls around the world swooning for the gentle hunk. Though it was somewhat erratic, it certainly helped that Luhrmann’s film was fitfully brilliant and enormously engaging. It turned into a modest box office success, paving the way for the juggernaut of “Titanic” and the LeoMania that ensued.
Having always thought of himself as an edgy indie actor, “Titanic” made him the biggest teen heartthrob since James Dean as it grossed nearly $2 billion worldwide and won an unprecedented eleven Oscars. The years after saw DiCaprio (along with his co-star Kate Winslet) struggle with his superstar status as he desperately wanted to return to more challenging films. Disappointments like Danny Boyle’s doomed opus “The Beach” and Woody Allen’s obnoxious “Celebrity” came next, but DiCaprio eventually returned to form with 2002’s “Gangs of New York”, an entertaining if overlong Martin Scorsese film about rival street gangs fighting for power in a young New York City. The film marked DiCaprio’s first film with Scorsese, and he has since become the director’s ‘new Robert De Niro’, starring in “The Aviator” (which earned him an Oscar nod) and this year’s “The Departed” alongside Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, and Jack Nicholson.
The last several years have seen DiCaprio mature into a celebrated actor, with his three Scorsese collaborations and a career-best performance in Steven Spielberg’s charming “Catch Me If You Can” alongside Tom Hanks. DiCaprio is likely in celebratory mode at the moment, having just received dual Golden Globe noms for Best Actor – for “The Departed” and “Blood Diamond”.