Leonardo DiCaprio turns 50 Hollywood's eternal bachelor has been in the business for 30 years

He received his first Oscar nomination as a teenager and became world-famous with the film "Titanic". Now Leonardo DiCaprio is 50 years old.

Keystone-SDA

10.11.2024, 23:57

SDA

Leonardo DiCaprio was just 19 years old when he made his Hollywood debut with two films. Robert de Niro had chosen the teenager as a co-star from a group of young contenders for the family drama "This Boy's Life" (1993). Swedish director Lasse Hallström then gave the newcomer the role of the younger, disabled brother in "Gilbert Grape - Somewhere in Iowa", which his older brother (Johnny Depp) had to look after. DiCaprio immediately picked up his first Oscar nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role.

But it was the role of the penniless, amorous Jack Dawson on the sinking "Titanic" that suddenly made the actor a star at the age of 23 in 1997. Director James Cameron's ship drama made cinema history. "Titanic" won eleven Oscars, and with box office takings of over 2.2 billion US dollars, it remains one of the most commercially successful films of all time. The iconic image of the young couple Rose (Kate Winslet) and Jack (DiCaprio) with outstretched arms on the bow of the ship is unforgettable.

Complete loss of private life

Since then, DiCaprio, who turns 50 on November 11, has been in the spotlight. He prefers to keep his private life private and rarely gives interviews. For once, he was unusually talkative last January in the British newspaper "The Guardian", when he was promoting Martin Scorsese's film "Killers of The Flower Moon" with co-star Lily Gladstone.

Would he be bothered by the media interest in his person? The "complete loss" of his private life is one of the by-products of his acting career, says DiCaprio. But he felt called to be an actor from an early age. Since then, it has felt like winning the lottery. He's not complaining at all, he says, you just have to accept it and get used to it.

The paparazzi are constantly on the heels of Hollywood's most sought-after bachelor, especially when there is a woman by his side. His preference for young models is well known. His girlfriends once included Gisele Bündchen, Bar Refaeli and top German model Toni Garrn. He met his current girlfriend, Italian model Vittoria Ceretti (26), at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023, according to US media reports.

Declaration of love to his mother

However, DiCaprio usually relies on his family to accompany him to award ceremonies and festivals. Mother Irmelin Indenbirken, who comes from Oer-Erkenschwick in North Rhine-Westphalia, gave birth to her only child in Los Angeles.

In February 2016, when the actor won the leading actor award at the Bafta Awards in London for his role in "The Revenant", he made a declaration of love to her on Valentine's Day: "I grew up in a very rough neighborhood in East Los Angeles. This woman drove me three hours a day to another school to give me a chance," explained the Hollywood star at the awards gala.

The American's mother, now 81 years old, moved to the USA in the 1950s and met George DiCaprio, who was of Italian descent. A year later, his parents separated and Leonardo DiCaprio grew up mainly with his mother. "I grew up very poor," the Hollywood star told the Los Angeles Times in January 2014. As a child, he saw drug addicts and prostitutes on the street.

DiCaprio ate raw bison liver for 'The Revenant'

After the "Titanic" breakthrough, the actor had a steady stream of roles and further Oscar chances. The next nomination for Hollywood's highest prize came with the Martin Scorsese film "Aviator" (2005), in which DiCaprio shone as eccentric millionaire and aviation pioneer Howard Hughes.

In 2007, he impressed as a diamond smuggler in the thriller "Blood Diamond", and in 2014 as a slick and arrogant financial juggler in "The Wolf of Wall Street". This Scorsese film earned the star two Oscar nominations as lead actor and producer.

But it wasn't until his sixth attempt - at the age of 41 - that the almost silent role as a bearded adventurer directed by Mexican Alejandro González Iñárritu brought him gold. It was the toughest shoot of his life, he said at the time about the survival and revenge thriller "The Revenant". In it, he played the fur trapper Hugh Glass, who is torn apart by a grizzly bear and left half dead by other trappers in the snowy wilderness. The film was shot in fierce snowstorms and icy rivers, and DiCaprio had to eat raw bison liver in front of the camera.

United Nations peace ambassador

DiCaprio plays the role of the environmental activist as passionately as his roles in front of the camera. Back in 1998, he set up the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, which worked with other associations, particularly in the areas of global warming, renewable energies, clean drinking water and the protection of ecosystems.

As a producer, DiCaprio has released documentaries such as "The 11th Hour" about global warming, "Virunga" and "Before the Flood". In 2014, he was appointed UN Messenger of Peace. With his latest organization "Re:wild", he supports indigenous peoples worldwide.

With regard to climate policy, he also backed Democrat Kamala Harris in a video message on the US presidential election at the end of October. His Instagram account, on which more than 61 million people follow him, is mainly about nature conservation projects.

Meanwhile, he continues to do his job in Hollywood. DiCaprio has agreed to numerous projects, including two more with star director Scorsese. Together they want to film the story of a historical survival drama off the coast of South America. The duo are also working on the film "Roosevelt" about the life of the former US president.