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| Leonardo DiCaprio |
Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio(born November 11, 1974) is an American actor and film producer. DiCaprio began his career by appearing in television commercials, after which he had recurring roles in TV series such as the soap opera Santa Barbara and the sitcom Growing Pains in the early 1990s. He began his film career by starring as Josh in Critters 3 before starring in the film adaptation of the memoir This Boy's Life (1993) alongside Robert De Niro. DiCaprio was praised for his supporting role in the drama What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993), and gained public recognition with leading roles in the drama The Basketball Diaries (1995) and the romantic drama Romeo + Juliet (1996), before achieving international fame with James Cameron's epic romance Titanic (1997), earning him his first Drama Golden Globe Award. Titanic also became the highest grossing film to that point.
Since the 2000s, DiCaprio has received critical acclaim for his work in a wide range of film genres. His subsequent films include The Man in the Iron Mask (1998), the biographical crime drama Catch Me If You Can (2002) and the epic historical drama Gangs of New York (2002) which also marked his first of many collaborations with director Martin Scorsese. As well as these DiCaprio was also acclaimed for his performances in the political war thriller Blood Diamond (2006), the neo-noir crime drama The Departed (2006), the espionage thriller Body of Lies (2008), the drama Revolutionary Road (2008), the psychological thriller Shutter Island (2010), the science fiction thriller Inception (2010), biographical film J. Edgar (2011), the western Django Unchained (2012), and the period drama The Great Gatsby (2013).
DiCaprio's portrayal of Howard Hughes in The Aviator (2004) and Jordan Belfort in The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) won him the Golden Globe Awards for Best Actor in a Drama and Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy, respectively. In addition to acting, DiCaprio owns a production company named Appian Way Productions. He is also a committed environmentalist.
Early life
DiCaprio was born in Hollywood, California,the only child of Irmelin (née Indenbirken), a German-born legal secretary, and George DiCaprio, an underground comics artist and producer and distributor of comic books.DiCaprio's father is of half Italian (from the Naples area) and half German (from Bavaria) descent.DiCaprio's maternal grandfather, Wilhelm Indenbirken, was German.His maternal grandmother, Helene Indenbirken (1915–2008),a German citizen, was born as Yelena Smirnova in Russia.In an interview in Russia, Di Caprio referred to himself as "half Russian" and said that two of his late grandparents were Russians.
DiCaprio's parents met while attending college and subsequently moved to Los Angeles.He was named Leonardo because his pregnant mother was looking at a Leonardo da Vinci painting in a museum in Italy when DiCaprio first kicked.His parents divorced when he was a year old, and he lived mostly with his mother. The two lived in several Los Angeles neighborhoods, such as Echo Park, and at 1874 Hillhurst Avenue, Los Feliz district (which was later converted into a local public library), while his mother worked several jobs to support them.He attended Seeds Elementary School and John Marshall High School a few blocks away, after attending the Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies for four years.However, he dropped out of high school following his third year, eventually earning his general equivalency diploma (GED).DiCaprio spent part of his childhood in Germany with his maternal grandparents, Wilhelm and Helene. He speaks German fluently.
Career
Early career
DiCaprio's career began with his appearance in several commercials and educational films. After being removed from the set of children's television series Romper Room for being disruptive at the age of five,he followed his older stepbrother Adam Farrar into television commercials, landing an ad for Matchbox cars at 14.In 1990, he got his break on television when he was cast in the short-lived series based on the movie Parenthood. 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 involvement in Parenthood and the daily soap earned him a nomination for the Young Artist Award for Best Young Actor each.
1996–2001: Mainstream success
In 1996, DiCaprio appeared 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 achieved a worldwide box office take of $147 million.
Later that year, he starred in Jerry Zaks' family drama Marvin's Room, reuniting with Robert De Niro. Based on Scott McPherson's screenplay adaptation of his own 1991 stage play of the same name, the film revolves 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 for setting fire to his mother's house.
A photograph of Leonardo DiCaprio attending a press conference for The Beach.
DiCaprio at a press conference for The Beach in February 2000.
In 1997, DiCaprio starred in James Cameron's Titanic (1997) as twenty-year-old Jack Dawson, a penniless Wisconsin man who wins two tickets for the third-class on the ill-fated RMS Titanic. DiCaprio initially refused to portray the character but was eventually encouraged to pursue the role by Cameron, who strongly believed in his acting ability.Against expectations, the film went on to become the highest-grossing film to date (it was surpassed in 2010 by Cameron's film Avatar), grossing more than $1.843 billion in box-office receipts worldwide,and transformed DiCaprio into a commercial movie superstar, resulting in fan worship among teenage girls and young women in general that became known as "Leo-Mania".In May 1998, for example, his face appeared on the covers of at least four teen magazines, and three books about DiCaprio were among the top six paperbacks on The New York Times Best Seller List.More than 200 fans contacted the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to protest his not being nominated for the 70th Academy Awards.He was nominated for other high-profile awards, including a second Golden Globe nomination. Upon the success of Titanic, 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."
Leonardo DiCaprio at a film festival in 2010.
DiCaprio at the premiere of Shutter Island at the 60th Berlin Film Festival in 2010
The same 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.Once DiCaprio agreed to do the film, it went almost immediately into production.He noted that he saw his character as "unheroic" and "slightly cowardly" and that he was "willing to be just a product of his environment."Portraying a couple in a failing marriage in the 1950s, DiCaprio and Winslet watched period videos promoting life in the suburbs to prepare themselves for Revolutionary Road, which eventually earned them favorable reviews.For his portrayal DiCaprio garnered his seventh Golden Globes nomination.
DiCaprio continued his collaborative streak with Scorsese in the 2010 psychological thriller film Shutter Island (2010), based on the 2003 novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane. He played U.S. Marshal Edward "Teddy" Daniels, who is investigating a psychiatric facility located on an island and comes to question his own sanity. The film grossed $294 million.
Also in 2010, DiCaprio starred in director Christopher Nolan's science-fiction film Inception. Inspired by the experience of lucid dreaming and dream incubation,DiCaprio portrays the character of Dom Cobb, 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.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."Released to critical acclaim, the film grossed over $825 million worldwide.To star in this film, DiCaprio agreed to a pay cut from his $20 million fee, in favor of splitting first-dollar gross points, which means he receives money coming directly off the top of ticket sales. This risk paid off, with DiCaprio earning $50 million from the film to become his highest payday yet.In July 2010, it was announced that DiCaprio had pulled out of a Viking movie to be directed by Mel Gibson amid controversy over Gibson's rage-fueled rant tapes and domestic violence probe.
2013–present
Leonardo DiCaprio in Paris at the premiere of his film The Wolf of Wall Street.
DiCaprio at the Paris premiere of The Wolf of Wall Street, December 2013
DiCaprio's next film was The Great Gatsby, again with Baz Luhrmann (who directed him in Romeo + Juliet in 1996), an adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel, also starring Carey Mulligan and Tobey Maguire; the film was released on May 10, 2013.It received mixed reviews from critics,however DiCaprio's portrayal as Jay Gatsby was praised. Critic Rafer Guzman of Newsday praised DiCaprio by stating, "As for Leonardo DiCaprio, he is now the Gatsby to beat. Despite a borderline comedic entrance -- haloed by fireworks and accompanied by Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue"—DiCaprio nails this maddeningly enigmatic character. He's as tough as Alan Ladd in '49, as suave as Redford in '74, but also vulnerable, touching, funny, a faker, a human. You hear it all in Gatsby's favorite phrase, "old sport," a verbal tic that stumped other actors. It's a tremendous, hard-won performance."Matt Zoller Seitz of Roger Ebert.com described his performance as Gatsby as "The movie's greatest and simplest special effect," and states "This is an iconic performance — maybe his career best."The film grossed $348 million worldwide and became Luhrmann's highest grossing film.
DiCaprio reunited with Scorsese for the fifth time in The Wolf of Wall Street, a film based on the life of stockbroker Jordan Belfort, who was arrested in the late 1990s for securities fraud and money laundering.Filming began on August 8, 2012, in New York,and the film was released on December 25, 2013.The role earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy and his fourth Academy Award nomination for acting. In January 2013, DiCaprio said he was going to take a long break from acting and would "fly around the world doing good for the environment."
In 2015, DiCaprio acted in The Revenant, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu.The film was well received by critics and DiCaprio's performance garnered universal appraisal that earned him numerous awards including his eleventh nomination at Golden Globes in Best Actor Drama category.On August 10, 2015, it was announced that Martin Scorsese will direct an adaptation of Larson's The Devil in the White City, which will star DiCaprio with screenplay to be written by Billy Ray.
In October 2015, Appian Way acquired the movie rights for a book about the Volkswagen emissions scandal.
Personal life
DiCaprio's romantic relationships have been widely covered in the media.DiCaprio dated model Kristen Zang on-and-off for several years, and British model and socialite Emma Miller.In 2000, he met Brazilian model Gisele Bündchen with whom he had an on-and-off relationship until their separation in 2005.DiCaprio began a relationship with Israeli model Bar Refaeli in November 2005 after meeting her at a Las Vegas party thrown for members of U2.In the course of their trip to Israel in March 2007, the couple met with Israeli president Shimon Peres and visited Refaeli's hometown of Hod HaSharon.The relationship was on hold for a period of six months starting in June 2009; in early 2010, the romance was rekindled but it ended in early 2011.DiCaprio was in a relationship with actress Blake Lively from May to October 2011,then with model Erin Heatherton from December 2011 to October 2012.From May 2013 to December 2014, he dated German model Toni Garrn.He dated model Kelly Rohrbach from summer to late 2015.
DiCaprio owns a home in Los Angeles and an apartment in Battery Park City in Lower Manhattan.In 2009, he bought an island off mainland Belize on which he is planning to create an eco-friendly resort. 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. After pleading guilty in 2010, Wilson was sentenced to prison for two years.In 2014, he purchased the original Dinah Shore residence designed by mid-century modern architect Donald Wexler in Palm Springs.
Environmental activism and philanthropy
Leonardo DiCaprio is looking directly at the camera.
A dedicated environmentalist, DiCaprio has received praise from environmental groups for his activism.He owns an electric Tesla Roadster,a Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid,and a Toyota Prius.He has also installed solar panels on his house.In an interview with Ukula about his film the 11th Hour, DiCaprio cited global warming as "the number-one environmental challenge".
At the 2007 Oscar ceremony, DiCaprio and former Vice President Al Gore appeared to announce that the Academy Awards had incorporated environmentally intelligent practices throughout the planning and production processes, thus affirming their commitment to the environment, and on July 7, 2007, DiCaprio presented at the American leg of Live Earth. In 2010, his environmental work earned DiCaprio a nomination for the VH1 Do Something Award. The awards show, produced by VH1, is dedicated to honoring people who do good and is powered by Do Something, a New York-based organization that aims to empower and inspire young people.On September 16, 2014, DiCaprio, has been appointed as a United Nations representative on climate change.
In 1998, DiCaprio and his mother donated $35,000 for a "Leonardo DiCaprio Computer Center" at the Los Feliz branch of the Los Angeles Public Library, the site of his childhood home. It was rebuilt after the 1994 Northridge earthquake and opened in early 1999.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.In 2010, he donated $1 million to relief efforts in Haiti after the earthquake.
During the 2004 presidential election, DiCaprio campaigned and donated to John Kerry's presidential bid. The FEC showed DiCaprio gave $2,300 to Barack Obama's presidential campaign in the 2008 election, the maximum contribution an individual can give in that election cycle, and $5,000 to Obama's 2012 campaign.
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".In 2011, DiCaprio joined the Animal Legal Defense Fund's campaign to free Tony, a tiger who has spent the last decade at the Tiger Truck Stop in Grosse Tete, Louisiana.DiCaprio is an activist for gay rights; in April 2013, he donated $61,000 to GLAAD, an organization which promotes the image of LGBT people in the media.
DiCaprio was quoted in 2015 as having witnessed global warming in action, while in Alberta, Canada for a film shoot. He remarked: “We were in Calgary and the locals were saying, ‘This has never happened in our province ever.’ We would come and there would be eight feet of snow, and then all of a sudden a warm gust of wind would come.” “…it was scary. I’ve never experienced something so firsthand that was so dramatic. You see the fragility of nature and how easily things can be completely transformed with just a few degrees difference. It’s terrifying, and it’s what people are talking about all over the world. And it’s simply just going to get worse.” The comments were widely reported in the press, particularly since chinook winds are a well-known weather phenomenon in the region and have been dating back over a century when European settlers first began recording weather data.
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