Leonardo DiCaprio: An Intimate Portrait

Tamara Jones is a former production operations supervisor in the
Entertainment Department of Paramount Canada’s Wonderland.

Leonardo DiCaprio, the subject of this well-balanced biography, has been
working in front of the camera since he was a small child. Born in 1974,
he grew up in a seedy neighbourhood near Hollywood Boulevard with his
divorced mother. He started acting at a young age in television. His
breakout performance occurred in This Boy’s Life, a film in which he
held his own with Robert De Niro.

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape earned DiCaprio an Academy Award
nomination for Best Supporting Actor in 1994. Romeo + Juliet solidified
his heartthrob status, but it was his role as Jack in James Cameron’s
Titanic that ignited “Leo mania.” According to MacLean, DiCaprio
“found some relief blowing off steam in the kind of exuberant
lifestyle that was fodder to the circling sharks of the press.” It
will be interesting to see how DiCaprio deals with his “outsized
celebrity” as he transitions into more mature roles such as Howard
Hughes in Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator.