Leonardo DiCaprio has been one of my favourite actors for a very long time. Actually scratch that, he IS my favourite actor of ALL time. I first watched him in ‘Titanic’ and I was amazed by his good looks and charm on screen. He has a genuine and likeable character that I adored as a young teenager, and obviously his natural good looks did do him favours. After that film I was a lover of DiCaprio and began following his work and back-tracking his previous films to be up-to-date with all that he had done.
I still have a few films of his to get through but what I love about DiCaprio is his choices in films. Not one of his films was a bad choice; they are all good quality in script, characters and effects for their time. Least of all he has the ability to hold his own on screen. From the beginning he gripped movie lovers with his believable performances and worked alongside some fantastic and well known actors.
In his very early career, he was seen in commercials and teen soaps such as ‘Growing Pains’ in the early 1990s but was soon making his name known in the films he first starred in.
DiCaprio’s films:
· Critters 3 (1991)– his first film debut
· This Boy’s Life(1992)– handpicked by Robert De Niro out of 400 young actors and received his first critical praise within the film industry for his fantastic performance as a trouble young boy with an abusive stepfather
· What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (1993) – Dicaprio supported Johnny Depp in this emotional and thought provoking film where he played a young boy with learning disabilities
· The Quick and The Dead (1995) – western based film where he played ‘The Kid’, real talent shown here even as a young actor in a supporting role
· Basketball Diaries (1995)- leading role in this disturbing teenage thriller that opens your eyes to the world of drug addiction
· Marvin’s Room (1996) – supporting role as a young boy in a mental institution helping his mother, played by Meryl Streep, come to terms with her father and sister’s illnesses
· Romeo and Juliet (1996) – Fantastic as lead in this adaptation of Shakespeare’s original romantic-tragedy, using the original dialogue in a modern day film. Interesting and original concept
· Titanic (1997) – The film to bring him international fame. Another lead role and perfectly suited as the worldly Jack Dawson. Please see my post on this for a more in-depth review
· The Man in the Iron Mask (1998) – Played dual roles as a the villainous King Louis XIV and his locked up twin brother, again showing diversity in his roles and the ability to capture audiences
· The Beach (2000) –Played a backpacking American who searches for a secret island commune with fellow friends to discover that all is not so serene
· Catch Me If You Can (2002) – worked alongside Christopher Walken and Tom Hanks as a young impersonator who travelled the country for free and committed countless amounts of fraud, all before his 19th birthday. He played a less dark character here, showing a varied acting ability
· Gangs Of New York (2002) – Territorial gang warfare set in the mid-19th Century of the Five Points district of New York, DiCaprio played the protagonist of the Irish faction, Amsterdam Vallon
· The Aviator (2004) –Played Howard Hughes, the aviation pioneer who battled with OCD. Worked along Cate Blanchett and received 5 Academy Awards
· Blood Diamond (2006)-Played diamond smuggler from Rhodesia and successfully mastered the south African Afrikaner accent
· The Departed (2006)- played a state trooper who went undercover for an Irish mob in Boston and his role in this film earned him a Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor
· Body of Lies (2008) – paired with Russell Crowe for a spy film based around terrorist organisations and Revolutionary Road (2008) – reunited with Kate Winslet where he portrayed a cowardly and un-heroic character than his previous films and his role in ‘Titanic’
· Shutter Island (2010) –Fantastic in this film as an FBI investigator searching for the truth behind a missing inmate, it gets you thinking, plays on your mind and has a lot of twists. DiCaprio makes you want his character to succeed and discover the mystery of this institution as well as deeply sympathise with him
· Inception (2010) – a film based around implanting or extracting ideas from dreams. Brilliant concept and excellent CGI effects, it is beautifully realised and just how one would imagine it. DiCaprio holds the film as the ‘extractor’ in this ‘dream-heist’
I am impressed by DiCaprio’s wealth of films as well as the quality of his acting. He doesn’t rush into playing a character, he truly realises them and almost becomes them. He learns the twitches, characteristics and accents for them and he suits every role he has played. Even with his youthful looks he has played some dark characters and made them his own.
Leonardo DiCaprio certainly knows about variety in his roles. He has played dark and disturbing characters, become a light-hearted comedian in some of his films to then acting in action-packed films or being the romantic everyman. He truly deserves the spot in Top 10 actors for me and with his skill, film choices and natural screen presence he is definitely my number 1!
Follow him on twitter as he is an active philanthropist: @LeoDiCaprio
His website: http://www.leonardodicaprio.com/
My favourite photos (just to indulge myself really):
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