Line #3 Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/leonardodicaprio.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:''[[Film/DjangoUnchained "Gentlemen, you had my curiosity...\
3	but now you have my attention."]]'']]
4
5	->''"I'm the king of the world! Woo-hoo-hoooo!"''
6	-->-- '''Jack Dawson''' in ''Film/{{Titanic\|1997}}''
7
8	Leonardo Wilhelm [=DiCaprio=] (born November 11, 1974 in Los Angeles, California) is an American actor and film producer of Italian, German and Russian descent who is one of the biggest movie stars of the last thirty years, and among the most famous and respected actors of his generation.
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10	[=DiCaprio=]'s career began with his role in the television sitcom ''Series/GrowingPains'', after which he started appearing in independent movies in TheNineties. His breakthrough film performance came in ''This Boy's Life'' (co-starring his hero Creator/RobertDeNiro, who apparently informed Creator/MartinScorsese about the young man's precocious talents). He then quickly followed with ''Film/WhatsEatingGilbertGrape'', wherein he played the mentally disabled brother of Creator/JohnnyDepp (who played the title role) in a performance that brought him nominations for the UsefulNotes/GoldenGlobe and UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for Best Supporting Actor.
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12	While he then gained considerable prominence for his role in ''[[Film/WilliamShakespearesRomeoAndJuliet Romeo + Juliet]]'' in 1996, [=DiCaprio=]'s role as Jack Dawson in Creator/JamesCameron's ''Film/{{Titanic 1997}}'' made him into one of the biggest movie stars in the world. In the immediate aftermath, he struggled for a few years with some ready to dismiss him as a flash in the pan, but this changed in 2002, when he appeared in two films by major directors -- ''Film/GangsOfNewYork'' (Martin Scorsese) and ''Film/CatchMeIfYouCan'' (Creator/StevenSpielberg). This marked the start of the current and most successful phase of his career, where he acts in intense roles collaborating with auteur directors, many of them built on shedding his romantic dreamboat image that he had accidentally sustained.
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14	[=DiCaprio=] has collaborated most often with Martin Scorsese (interestingly, both are Italian-Americans). This partnership has earned comparisons to the earlier working relationship between Scorsese and Creator/RobertDeNiro for the simple fact that they are the only two actors Scorsese has worked with repeatedly as lead roles in multiple films. Their collaboration has been mutually beneficial, with [=DiCaprio=]'s critical reputation changing from a PrettyBoy to a talented actor who had a greater emotional range than many expected and who could also project an uncommon intensity. Scorsese in turn managed to score a string of hits (as every one of their films has been profitable), with ''Film/TheDeparted'' winning him the Oscar for Best Director while ''Film/TheWolfOfWallStreet'' became the biggest box office grosser of his career. He's also attached to play UsefulNotes/TheodoreRoosevelt in a long-gestating biopic from Scorsese that currently doesn't have a release date but is expected to be his next project after ''Film/KillersOfTheFlowerMoon''.
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16	To try and summarize his filmography, [=DiCaprio=] has appeared in a lot of {{Period Piece}}s, doesn't seem to be interested in acting in big franchise films, and tends to [[ChronicallyKilledActor die in many of his movies]]. He's also an environmentalist; among other public motions, he has been involved in the production of several documentaries about environmental issues, including the 2007 documentary ''The 11th Hour'', which he also narrated.
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18	At the 88th Academy Awards on February 28, 2016, [=DiCaprio=] finally received an Oscar, winning for Best Actor for his performance in ''Film/TheRevenant'' after previously being nominated four times (three times for Best Actor, one time for Best Supporting Actor). Considering his recurring losses and exclusions at the ceremony had begun to precede him among the film community and the Internet by way of [[MemeticMutation memes]] (one popular one [[FanNickname dubbed him]] "Leonardo No-Oscar-o"), his victory was met with much rejoicing. Amusingly, much the same thing happened to his ''Titanic'' co-star Creator/KateWinslet, who was nominated for ''five'' different Academy Awards (three for Best Actress, two for Best Supporting Actress) before she finally won one for ''Film/TheReader'' in 2009, leading some fans to jokingly suggest that ''Titanic'' was cursed.
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20	!!'''Movies or TV series he starred in:'''
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22	* ''Series/SantaBarbara'' (1990) as Young Mason Capwell (one scene)
23	* ''Critters 3'' (1991) as Josh
24	* ''Series/GrowingPains'' (1992) as Luke Brower
25	* ''This Boy's Life'' (1993) as Tobias Wolff
26	* ''Film/WhatsEatingGilbertGrape'' (1993) as Arnie Grape
27	* ''Film/TheQuickAndTheDead'' (1994) as Kid
28	* ''Film/TheBasketballDiaries'' (1995) as Jim Carroll
29	* ''Total Eclipse'' (1995) as Arthur Rimbaud
30	* ''Don's Plum'' (1995 but released in 2001) as Derek
31	* ''Film/WilliamShakespearesRomeoAndJuliet'' (1996) as Romeo
32	* ''Film/MarvinsRoom'' (1996) as Hank
33	* ''Film/{{Titanic\|1997}}'' (1997) as Jack Dawson
34	* ''Film/TheManInTheIronMask'' (1998) as twins King UsefulNotes/LouisXIV [[invoked]]{{a\|cting For Two}}nd Phillipe
35	* ''Film/{{Celebrity}}'' (1998) as Brandon Darrow
36	* ''Film/TheBeach'' (2000) as Richard
37	* ''Film/GangsOfNewYork'' * (2002) as Amsterdam Vallon
38	* ''Film/CatchMeIfYouCan'' (2002) as Frank Abagnale Jr
39	* ''Film/TheAviator'' * (2004) as Creator/HowardHughes
40	* ''Film/TheDeparted'' * (2006) as Billy Costigan
41	* ''Film/BloodDiamond'' (2006) as Danny Archer
42	* ''Film/BodyOfLies'' (2008) as Roger Ferris
43	* ''Film/RevolutionaryRoad'' (2008) as Frank Wheeler
44	* ''Film/ShutterIsland'' * (2010) as Teddy Daniels
45	* ''Film/{{Inception}}'' (2010) as Dom Cobb
46	* ''Film/JEdgar'' (2011) as J. Edgar Hoover
47	* ''Film/DjangoUnchained'' (2012) as Calvin J. Candie
48	* ''[[Film/TheGreatGatsby2013 The Great Gatsby]]'' (2013) as Jay Gatsby
49	* ''Film/TheWolfOfWallStreet'' * (2013) as Jordan Belfort
50	* ''Film/TheRevenant'' (2015) as UsefulNotes/HughGlass -- His first Oscar for Best Actor
51	* ''Film/OnceUponATimeInHollywood'' (2019) as Rick Dalton
52	* ''Film/DontLookUp'' (2021) as Dr. Randall Mindy
53	* ''Film/KillersOfTheFlowerMoon'' * (2023) as Ernest Burkhart
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55	Note: * indicates Dicaprio's collaborations with Creator/MartinScorsese.
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57	!!Tropes associated with his works:
58	* AgeLift: In ''Film/CatchMeIfYouCan'' he played 16-year-old Frank Abagnale. Two years later he was playing late 30s-to early 40s Howard Hughes. He then later played the much older J. Edgar Hoover. A lot of people accused the casting of being ambitious, to say the least, especially in the case of Hoover.
59	* AntiHero: Tends to play this type of character in most of his movies:
60	** ''Basketball Diaries'': A 14-year-old Catholic school student who is also a heroin-junkie and prostitute.
61	** ''Total Eclipse'': Plays poet Arthur Rimbaud, who also had an affair with an older man.
62	** ''Marvin's Room'': Sets his house on fire in the first 10 minutes of the show. Has bipolar disorder and stays in a psychiatric treatment center.
63	** ''Don's Plum'' and ''Celebrity'': Plays spoiled, bored, rich [[JerkAss jerkasses]].
64	** ''Film/TheAviator'', ''Film/RevolutionaryRoad'', ''Film/ShutterIsland'', ''Film/{{Inception}}'', ''Film/TheGreatGatsby2013'': Plays characters with [[spoiler: delusional behaviors and a warped sense of reality.]]
65	** ''Film/TheDeparted'': Plays a character who has to do some really shady things while undercover, such as participating in murder.
66	** ''Film/BloodDiamond'': Plays a [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain racist]] South African merc who kills and cheats his way across Africa for his personal gain.
67	* BigBad: He's played the Big Bad of ''Film/TheManInTheIronMask'' and ''Film/DjangoUnchained'', and he's also the VillainProtagonist of ''The Wolf of Wall Street''.
68	* {{Biopic}}: He has played Arthur Rimbaud, Howard Hughes, Frank Abagnale Jr., J. Edgar Hoover, Jordan Belfort, Hugh Glass, to name a few.
69	* BlackComedy: The characters played by him that have at least some comedy to them (Calvin Candie, Jordan Belfort, Dr. Randall Mindy) tend to do horrible things.
70	* ChronicallyKilledActor: When taken to its logical extreme, if he appears in a Baz Luhrmann film his character is doomed (since he plays characters that die in the source material of the two Luhrmann films he's appeared in).
71	* DestructiveRomance: Most of his romantic films tend to have him in such a relationship. Many of them feature him in bad marriages or relationships (''The Great Gatsby, The Wolf of Wall Street, Inception, Shutter Island, Revolutionary Road''). The only healthy screen romance and good relationships, was Jack and Rose in ''Titanic'' and even that one [[spoiler:got him killed]], and of course Baz Luhrmann's ''Romeo + Juliet'', which well is self-explanatory.
72	* DyeingForYourArt: Inspired by his idol Creator/RobertDeNiro, Leo is a prominent [[MethodActing method actor]] of the 21st century. It went to extremes in his Oscar-winning role in ''Film/TheRevenant''.
73	* IronyAsSheIsCast: His role in ''Revolutionary Road'' involved yelling and screaming at [[Creator/KateWinslet Kate Winslet,]] one of his dearest and closest friends. InvokedTrope as both have stated that it made it so much easier having the relationship between them, as their trust for each other was so strong.
74	%%* KnightOfCerebus: A rare case of his characters in some films. Several of his characters add serious conflicts and drama to the plot (and that includes his nicest characters too), making the film becomes increasingly DarkerAndEdgier.
75	%%* LargeHam: He can be a pretty... [[https://youtu.be/p53CZtamFsU intense actor]].
76	* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed:
77	** Gets a NoCelebritiesWereHarmed character in the ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' game series in the form of Steve Burnside; although the character's inclusion was most certainly pushed along by the advent of ''Titanic'' being popular, his personality and actions are modeled on [=DiCaprio=]'s earlier roles.
78	** Gilbert (Gil) from ''Manga/HanaKimi'' is modeled after Leonardo [=DiCaprio=].
79	** Wrestler Brian Kendrick went by the name Leonardo Spanky earlier in his career in Japan, due to his resemblance.
80	* OlderThanTheyLook: He looked 14 in ''Film/WhatsEatingGilbertGrape'' (real age 18), 16 in ''Total Eclipse'' and ''Basketball Diaries'' (real age 20), 16 in ''Romeo + Juliet'' (real age 21), 16 in ''Film/CatchMeIfYouCan'' (real age 28). Based on [[http://justjared.buzznet.com/photo-gallery/2518030/leonardo-dicaprio-j-edgar-filming-01/ the set pictures]] from ''J. Edgar'', the 36-year-old Leo looks right at home playing a 21-year-old Hoover. As one person put it, he looks about a decade younger clean-shaven.
81	* PlayingAgainstType: Done completely intentionally with ''Revolutionary Road''. Leo and Kate knew that their next film collaboration couldn't bear any resemblance to ''Titanic'' so they did the complete opposite; star-crossed lovers contrasted against a couple in an AwfulWeddedLife.
82	* PrettyBoy: Played young and handsome characters early in his career and he's still the modern idea of what people think of when they hear of this. The hunt for "the next Leonardo [=DiCaprio=]" hasn't really died.
83	* SexySoakedShirt: Remarkably common to whatever character he is playing. He got drenched in a tub in ''Film/WhatsEatingGilbertGrape'', falls into a pool in ''Film/WilliamShakespearesRomeoAndJuliet'', swims in the ocean in ''Film/TheBeach'' and ''Titanic'', along other examples.
84	* SmokingIsCool: In almost all of his movies his characters smoke, starting from the ''Basketball Diaries'' (age 20). In particular, watch out for the scene in ''Romeo + Juliet'' in which he's sitting by the beach, calmly puffing away while he writes in his diary and droning Music/{{Radiohead}} music plays in the background.
85	* ThoseTwoActors: Played lovers with Creator/KateWinslet in ''Titanic'' and ''Revolutionary Road''.
86	* [[invoked]]WhatCouldHaveBeen: He was once set to play in Scorsese's ''Film/{{Silence}}'', but ultimately couldn't. The two will still collaborate again on ''Killers of the Flower Moon''.
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88	''[[Film/{{Inception}} ... We have to go deeper.]]''

Context Creator / LeonardoDiCaprio