Leonardo DiCaprio
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| Leonardo DiCaprio | |||||||||||||||||||
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 Leonardo DiCaprio, April 2007 |
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| Born | Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio November 11, 1974 Los Angeles, California |
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| Years active | 1988 — present | ||||||||||||||||||
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Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio (born November 11, 1974[1]) is an American actor. He garnered worldwide fame for his role as Jack Dawson in Titanic (1997), and he has since starred in many other successful films including Romeo + Juliet (1996), Catch Me If You Can (2002), and Blood Diamond (2006). He has appeared in Martin Scorsese's recent films, including Gangs of New York (2002), The Aviator (2004), and The Departed (2006), causing people to compare this relationship to that from which actor Robert De Niro benefited early in his career. [2] DiCaprio is a three time Academy Award-, two time BAFTA Award-, and one time SAG Award-nominee, as well as a Golden Globe Award-, NBR Award-, and Silver Bear Award-winner.
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[edit] Early life
DiCaprio was born in Los Angeles, California to Irmelin Indenbirken, a former legal secretary, and George DiCaprio, an underground comic book distributor.
He was named after artist Leonardo da Vinci, as his pregnant mother was standing infront of a da Vinci painting in Italy when DiCaprio first kicked.
His father is an Italian American, while his mother was born in Oer-Erkenschwick, Germany and moved to the US during her childhood. His parents met while attending college together and later moved to Los Angeles where they married. They divorced when Leonardo was a year old.
Leonardo grew up in Hollywood, and lived in several rough neighborhoods. He recalls looking out of his bedroom window and seeing drug dealers and prostitutes hanging around outside. He once even got beat up while on his way home from school. Money was also scarce for them, his mother had to work two jobs to support them.
He attended Seeds Elementary School, Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies and then enrolled at John Marshall High School in the Los Feliz part of town.
He developed an interest in acting when his father began a relationship with a woman who's son, Adam Farrer, was a working actor.
Leo then began looking for an agent at age 13, but was initially turned down. One agent rejected him because of his haircut, while another advised him to anglicize his name to "Lenny Williams", which DiCaprio shunned.
In school, he joined the drama club and also took summer acting classes.
After signing up with an agency, Leo went on audition after audition, resulting in him missing a lot of school. He was eventually kicked out of the drama club, because he was hardly ever there. He quit school at 16.
[edit] Career
[edit] Early career
DiCaprio's acting career began as appearing in several commercials. He got his break on television when he was cast in the three-episode series, Parenthood, where he met child actor Tobey Maguire, with whom he remains best friends and they made a pact to help each other find roles in TV and movies.After Parenthood, DiCaprio had bit parts on several shows, including The New Lassie and Roseanne, as well as a brief stint on the soap opera Santa Barbara, playing the young Mason Capwell.
His debut film role was Critters 3, a B-grade horror movie, which later went straight to video. Soon after, he became a recurring cast member on the hit ABC sitcom Growing Pains, playing Luke Brower, a homeless boy who the Seavers take in.
His breakthrough came in 1992, when he beat out hundreds of other boys (including friend Tobey Maguire) for the role of Toby Wolff in This Boy's Life, co-starring Robert DeNiro and Ellen Barkin. His performance, as the troubled, abused teenager was critically acclaimed and Hollywood took noticed. Later in 1993, he starred as the mentally handicapped brother to Johnny Depp in What's Eating Gilbert Grape. His performance earned him both an Oscar and Golden Globe nomination for best supporting actor.
1995 was an eventful year for DiCaprio. That year he starred in four movies; the first one, The Quick and The Dead, he played Gene hackman's alleged son, Fee, starring alongside Sharon Stone(who was reported to have helped pay his salary, as she was so desperate to have him in the movie) and a soon-to-be-famous Russell Crowe.
After The Quick and The Dead, he starred in The Basketball Diaries, the story of Jim Carroll's downward spiral to drugs, alcohol and eventually prostitution.
The black-and-white movie Dom's Plum, a low budget drama featuring the actor and his friends (including Tobey Maguire) was filmed between 1995 and 1996. Its release was blocked by DiCaprio and Maguire, who argued that they never intended to make it a theatrical release. Nevertheless, it premiered in Berlin in 2001.
Afterward, he starred as 19th Century French poet Arthur Rimbaud in Total Eclipse. Baz Luhrmann's 1996 film Romeo + Juliet,again featured DiCaprio as the male lead , with Claire Danes as Juliet. Later than year he starred in Marvin's Room, playing the son of Meryl Streep.
[edit] Superstardom and "Leo-Mania"
The move from "star" to "superstar" came when DiCaprio played Jack Dawson in the 1997 blockbuster Titanic, which became the highest grossing movie in the history of film. The movie also received 11 Academy Awards. Over the course of the next few years he would become a household name worldwide, synonymous with labels such as "teenage heart-throb" and sex symbol. People placed him in their annual "Most Beautiful People" issue on numerous occasions. At the peak of his celebrity in 1998, DiCaprio fronted scores of magazine covers ranging from Vanity Fair to Rolling Stone,[3] and was once the most searched for personality in the early years of the Internet. In 1998, DiCaprio agreed to play the spoof role of his real life "teen idol" persona during this period, in Woody Allen's satirical parody, Celebrity. Also that year he played dual roles as evil King Louis XIV and his imprisoned twin brother Philippe in The Man in the Iron Mask which was a loose adaptation of Alexandre Dumas's novels.
What came apropos with fame were tales in the tabloids of excesses and indulgence. In the Japanese media, he was referred to as Leo-sama, with the "sama" suffix given to show the utmost respect. Time summed up the fame superhighway and its trappings in an interview with the actor in 2000, reporting:
DiCaprio still thinks of himself as an edgy indie actor, not the Tiger Beat cover boy. "I have no connection with me during that whole Titanic Phenomenon and what my face became around the world," DiCaprio commented, adding, "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."
Nonetheless, the headlines and controversy failed to let up, peaking when he starred in a project by Danny Boyle based on Alex Garland's backpacker cult classic The Beach that year. Because of clashes with the Thai authorities over the use of the island of Ko Phi Phi in 1999, the film garnered more bad press than expected. It was reported that permission granted to the film company to physically alter the environment inside Phi Phi Islands National Park was illegal. In the end, the film also did not score as well as expected at the box office, losing mainstream commercial appeal due to its content.
[edit] Critically acclaimed acting
In 2002, DiCaprio began a shift away from his stereotypical image and moved to engage himself with critically acclaimed directors by starring in two epic movies: Gangs of New York (directed by Martin Scorsese), and Catch Me If You Can (directed by Steven Spielberg). Both films were very well received by critics. Forging a collaboration with Scorsese, the two paired again for a biopic of American businessman Howard Hughes in The Aviator, a film that scored DiCaprio a second Academy Award nomination, for Best Actor.
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DiCaprio continued his run with Scorsese (some claim him to be Scorsese's "new De Niro") in the 2006 film The Departed as Billy Costigan, a smart undercover cop in Boston. His next film was Blood Diamond, released on December 8, 2006. While the film itself received mixed reviews, DiCaprio was praised for the authenticity of his Zimbabwean Afrikaaner accent, known as a difficult accent of English to emulate. He is also reported to have purchased the rights to Blink, Malcolm Gladwell's book on the power and validity of first impressions, in order to produce a film based on it.
Cruise/Wagner Productions, Tom Cruise's film production company, is said to be developing a screenplay based on Erik Larson's New York Times bestseller The Devil in the White City, about H. H. Holmes, a serial killer at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. Meanwhile, DiCaprio's production company, Appian Way Productions, is also developing a film about Holmes and the World's Fair, in which DiCaprio will star.
In 2006, the Golden Globes and Broadcast Film Critics Association nominated DiCaprio twice in the same category: Best Actor for Blood Diamond and The Departed, which is an extremely rare honor for actors. Also in the same year, he received two nominations for the Screen Actors Guild Awards, a lead actor nomination for Blood Diamond and a supporting actor nomination for The Departed. He earned an Oscar nomination for lead actor in Blood Diamond and a BAFTA nod for lead actor for The Departed.
After working in two Warner Brothers films, DiCaprio will again star in a WB production for a film about the collapse of Enron, based on the book Conspiracy of Fools. The film's script is currently under negotiations.[4]
He is also reportedly attached to a number of other upcoming projects, including The Chancellor Manuscript, Stephen Gaghan’s Blink, a biopic of LSD-spokesperson Professor Timothy Leary, and two projects in collaboration with Martin Scorsese, Ashecliffe, an adaptation of a novel by Dennis Lehane, The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, and Ridley Scott directed Low Dweller.[5] All projects are in the developmental stages.
DiCaprio re-teamed with his Titanic co-stars Kate Winslet and Kathy Bates in the adaptation of Richard Yates' critically-lauded 1961 novel Revolutionary Road. The film of the same name was adapted for the screen by Justin Haythe and was directed by Winslet’s husband, Sam Mendes. It is scheduled for release in December 2008.
DiCaprio currently is ranked the 9th Best Working Actor Today by The Screen Directory.[6] In May 2007, he was listed among Time’s 100 Most Influential People in The World.
DiCaprio along with Mark Wahlberg is slated to star in the remake of the 2006 documentary Cocaine Cowboys, which chronicles the story of the largest cocaine trafficker in Miami in the 1970s and 1980s. Wahlberg will play the drug kingpin Jon Roberts with DiCaprio as “the airplane pilot who travels with Mark’s character to obtain kilos of cocaine from Pablo Escobar.”
[edit] Personal life
A committed environmentalist, DiCaprio has received praise from environmental groups for opting to fly on commercial flights instead of chartering private jets, which use more fuel. He has also mentioned that he drives a hybrid car and that his house has solar panels.[7] His actions have inspired other celebrities, such as Orlando Bloom and Penelope Cruz. In an article in Ukula about his new film 11th Hour (which he co-wrote, co-produced and narrated), DiCaprio cites global warming as "the number one environmental challenge."[8] DiCaprio and former vice-president Al Gore announced at the 2007 Oscar ceremony that the Oscars had incorporated environmentally intelligent practices throughout the planning and production processes, thus affirming their commitment to the environment. On July 7, 2007, DiCaprio presented at the American leg of Live Earth. During the 2004 Presidential election, DiCaprio campaigned and donated to John Kerry's presidential bid. In March 2008, DiCaprio endorsed Barack Obama for the presidency.
In 1998, he and his mother donated $35,000 dollars for a state-of-the-art “Leonardo DiCaprio Computer Center” at the Los Feliz branch of the Los Angeles Public Library (1874 Hillhurst Avenue) which happens to be the site of his childhood home. It was rebuilt after the 1994 Northridge earthquake, and opened in early 1999. There are commemorative placards and curious fans are welcomed at the library.[9][10]
During the filming of Blood Diamond, DiCaprio worked with 24 orphaned children from the SOS Children's Village in Maputo, Mozambique, and was said to be extremely touched by his interactions with the children.[11]
DiCaprio owns a home in Los Angeles and an apartment in New York. He bought an island in Belize where he is planning to create an eco-friendly resort,[12] as well as an apartment in Riverhouse, an eco-friendly building overlooking the Hudson River.
In January, 2008, extradition processes began against Aretha Wilson, 37, who escaped to Toronto, Ontario, Canada after seriously injuring Leonardo DiCaprio with a broken beer bottle at a June 20, 2005 Hollywood Hills party. She also has pending aggravated assault cases.[13]
He was recently invited to The Scottish Parliament at Holyrood in Edinburgh, Scotland, to talk about his foundation which is to raise awareness of our environment. It is not yet known if he has accepted the offer, due to his busy schedule in Hollywood.
He has been in several high profile relationships, including with Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bündchen and actress/model Kristen Zang. He has been dating Israeli model Bar Refaeli since 2006.
[edit] Filmography
[edit] Films
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Critters 3 | Josh | |
| 1992 | Poison Ivy | Guy | |
| 1993 | This Boy's Life | Tobias "Toby" Wolff | |
| What's Eating Gilbert Grape | Arnie Grape | First Academy Award and Golden Globe Nominations at age 19 | |
| 1995 | The Quick and The Dead | Fee Herod "The Kid" | |
| The Basketball Diaries | Jim Carroll | ||
| Total Eclipse | Arthur Rimbaud | ||
| 1996 | Romeo + Juliet | Romeo Montague | |
| Marvin's Room | Hank | SAG nomination for best ensemble | |
| 1997 | Titanic | Jack Dawson | Nominated for Best Actor at 1998 Golden Globe and 2 SAG Awards; This Film won 11 Academy Awards |
| 1998 | The Man in the Iron Mask | King Louis XIV/Philippe | |
| Celebrity | Brandon Darrow | ||
| 2000 | The Beach | Richard | |
| 2001 | Don's Plum | Derek | |
| 2002 | Catch Me If You Can | Frank William Abagnale Jr. | Nominated for Best Actor at 2003 Golden Globe |
| Gangs of New York | Amsterdam Vallon | ||
| 2004 | The Aviator | Howard Hughes | Nominated for Best Actor at 2005 Academy Award and 2 SAG Award; won a Golden Globe. |
| 2006 | Blood Diamond | Danny Archer | Nominated for Best Actor at 2007 Academy Award, Golden Globe and SAG Awards |
| The Departed | William "Billy" Costigan Jr. | Nominated for Best Actor at 2007 Golden Globe and for 2 SAG Awards (best supporting actor and ensemble) | |
| 2007 | The 11th Hour | Narrator/Producer |
[edit] Upcoming films
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Revolutionary Road | Frank Wheeler | awaiting release |
| Body of Lies | Roger Ferris | awaiting release | |
| 2009 | Ashecliffe | Edward "Teddy" Daniels | filming |
| Akira | Producer/ Shotaro Kaneda (Akira) | announced | |
| The Chancellor Manuscript | Peter Chancellor | announced | |
| The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt | Theodore Roosevelt | announced |
[edit] Awards and nominations
[edit] Academy Award
- Nominated: Best Supporting Actor, What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
- Nominated: Best Actor, The Aviator (2004)
- Nominated: Best Actor, Blood Diamond (2006)
[edit] BAFTA Award
- Nominated: Best Actor, The Aviator (2005)
- Nominated: Best Actor, The Departed (2007)
[edit] Golden Globe Award
- Nominated: Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture, What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
- Nominated: Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama, Titanic (1998)
- Nominated: Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama, Catch Me If You Can (2003)
- Won: Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama, The Aviator (2004)
- Nominated: Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama, The Departed (2007)
- Nominated: Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama, Blood Diamond (2007)
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| National Board of Review Award | ||
| Preceded by Jack Nicholson for A Few Good Men |
Best Supporting Actor for What's Eating Gilbert Grape? 1993 |
Succeeded by Gary Sinise for Forrest Gump |
| Golden Globe Award | ||
| Preceded by Sean Penn for Mystic River |
Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama for The Aviator 2005 |
Succeeded by Philip Seymour Hoffman for Capote |
[edit] References
- ^ Catalano, Grace (1997). Leonardo DiCaprio: Modern-Day Romeo. New York, New York: Dell Publishing Group, 7-15. ISBN0-440-22701-1.
- ^ Scorsese Likens DiCaprio To De Niro
- ^ 2000 Rolling Stone Covers
- ^ DiCaprio's fueled by Enron: WB pic to be based on 'Fools' book
- ^ Scott to Direct DiCaprio in Low Dweller
- ^ The Screen Directory: Contemporary Film Actors
- ^ Leonardo DiCaprio on The 11th Hour
- ^ The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation and 11th Hour at Ukula.
- ^ Leonardo DiCaprio bio, trivia, pictures from About Gay Movies
- ^ Leonardo Gives It Up
- ^ Leonardos memorable experience
- ^ Opening eco-friendly resort
- ^ sought_in_DiCaprio_attack showbizandstyle.inquirer.net, Extradition sought in DiCaprio attack
[edit] External links
- Leonardo DiCaprio Official Website
- Leonardo DiCaprio Official Eco-site
- Leonardo DiCaprio at MySpace
- Official DiCaprio Environmental Eleventh Hour film site
- The Completely Unofficial Leonardo DiCaprio Homepage
- Leonardo DiCaprio at the Internet Movie Database
- Leonardo DiCaprio at People.com
- Leonardo DiCaprio at TV.com
