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Home: Leonardo DiCaprio Quotes

Leonardo DiCaprio Quotes

Actor, Film Producer
Born On
1974-11-11
Birth Place
Hollywood, California, U.S.
Birth Sign
scorpio
Father
George DiCaprio
Mother
Irmelin
Nationality
American
Actors, Film & Theater Personalities, T V & Movie Producers
Though he is yet to win an "Oscar" despite proving his acting prowess several times, DiCaprio has already bagged several laurels over the years and is currently a leading Hollywood star. Also known for his antics in parties and clubs, this celebrity has also made waves for his luxurious lifestyle. A source once claimed that the famous actor once showed up at a social gathering and smitten by his charm all the ladies at the party ended up heading to Leonardo's place from the party arena. DiCaprio's parents divorced when he was just one and the actor spent most of his childhood with his mother, who took up several jobs to make ends meet. Not many are aware that Leonardo is fluent in German too, thanks to his ancestry. Starting off his career just by doing commercials, Leonardo broke into international fame with his role in the 1998 Hollywood Blockbuster "Titanic", which became the highest-grossing movie at that time. Since then, he has wooed audiences with his ability to do justice to characters ranging across genres like drama, romance and even thrillers. In 2006, his career reached an all-time high when he was nominated twice in the "Best Actor" category for an "Academy Award", for his roles in the films "Departed" and "Blood Diamond". Known to be a philanthropist and environmentalist, in 2014, he was nominated as the UN representative for climate change. DiCaprio has attended several conferences held to address environmental issues.

My career should adapt to me. Fame is like a VIP pass wherever you want to go.

Leonardo DiCaprio

The first kiss I had was the most disgusting thing in my life. The girl injected about a pound of saliva into my mouth, and when I walked away I had to spit it all out.

Girl Life Kiss
Leonardo DiCaprio

It's easy to fall into the trap of believing all the hype that's written about you... Who knows? In a couple of years, you might find me in the loony bin!

Fall
Leonardo DiCaprio

I just really love doing what I do. I know every career is fleeting and there will be time periods when I don't get the opportunities that I'm getting right now, so I am taking advantage of them.

Love Time
Leonardo DiCaprio

I prefer ordinary girls - you know, college students, waitresses, that sort of thing. Most of the girls I go out with are just good friends. Just because I go out to the cinema with a girl, it doesn't mean we are dating.

Girl Good Dating
Leonardo DiCaprio

I'm not the kind of person who tries to be cool or trendy, I'm definitely an individual.

Cool
Leonardo DiCaprio

I've always been spontaneous and outgoing... I've tried lots of things so I've got some good life experiences, which is great 'cause it means I've got lots of material to work with as an actor.

Good Greatness Life Work
Leonardo DiCaprio

Meryl Streep does things I would never have thought possible... Her presence on screen is outstanding.

Things
Leonardo DiCaprio

If you can do what you do best and be happy, you're further along in life than most people.

Life People
Leonardo DiCaprio

My mother is a walking miracle.

Walking
Leonardo DiCaprio

I grew up when I was 15 when I had my first opportunity in movies. I watched every great movie for a year and a half, and since then I've asked myself how I can emulate such artistry. That's really my motivation. I want to do something as good as my heroes have done.

Good Greatness Opportunities
Leonardo DiCaprio

Drugs? Every one has a choice and I choose not to do drugs.

Leonardo DiCaprio

I play fictitious characters often solving fictitious problems. I believe mankind has looked at climate change in the same way, as if it were a fiction.

Change Problems
Leonardo DiCaprio

Everywhere I go, somebody is staring at me, I don't know if people are staring because they recognize me or because they think I'm a weirdo.

People
Leonardo DiCaprio

I can remember getting rejected systematically by casting directors as a young kid. I felt like the biggest outsider there ever was; that I'd never belong in that club.

Leonardo DiCaprio

School, I never truly got the knack of. I could never focus on things I didn't want to learn. Math is just the worst. To this day, I can't concentrate on it. People always say, 'You should have tried harder.' But actually, I cheated a lot because I could not sit and do homework.

People Focus
Leonardo DiCaprio

Raising awareness on the most pressing environmental issues of our time is more important than ever.

Time
Leonardo DiCaprio

My mom, Irmelin, taught me the value of life. Her own life was saved by my grandmother during World War II.

Life Wars World
Leonardo DiCaprio

Money was always on my mind when I was growing up. So I was always wondering how we were going to afford this and that. Acting seemed to be a shortcut out of the mess.

Money Acting Mind Acting
Leonardo DiCaprio

To believe in love, to be ready to give up anything for it, to be willing to risk your life for it, is the ultimate tragedy.

Life Love
Leonardo DiCaprio

When a role for a young guy is being offered to me, I think of River Phoenix. It feels like a loss.

Leonardo DiCaprio

I don't see why I can't have friends of both sexes without wild rumors being circulated. It's crazy.

Leonardo DiCaprio

Don't think for a moment that I'm really like any of the characters I've played. I'm not. That's why it's called 'acting'.

Acting Acting
Leonardo DiCaprio

I got attention by being funny at school, pretending to be retarded, and jumping around with a deformed hand.

Funny Acting School
Leonardo DiCaprio

Brothers don't necessarily have to say anything to each other - they can sit in a room and be together and just be completely comfortable with each other.

Leonardo DiCaprio

My dad's probably one of the kindest people in the world. When I was younger that's not how I was- I was a little spoiled brat.

People World
Leonardo DiCaprio

I had a period when I was sixteen where I started to get a big head. I was going through puberty, and I was nominated for an Academy Award. My head got inflated. My friends were the real ones who said, 'You're acting different.' But the truth is that I don't need that, because I don't get out of hand.

Truth
Leonardo DiCaprio

I think I will always feel like an outsider.

Leonardo DiCaprio

When I started acting, I didn't think of it as a career. I always thought Hollywood was this magical world where a fairy came down and said, 'Come live with the Munchkins; you are now one of us.' I didn't understand the concept of it as a career. I thought I would save up enough money to go to college.

Money World
Leonardo DiCaprio

I've been planted here to be a vessel for acting... That's why I'm really taking any part, regardless of how complicated it's going to be.

Acting Acting
Leonardo DiCaprio

I remember reading the book in high school and always thinking of Gatsby as this strong, stoic, suave, mysterious man who had everything under control. But when I read it as an adult, I realised he is a hollow man, a shell of a person trying to find meaning, who is not completely in touch with reality.

Reality Thinking
Leonardo DiCaprio

I want to be a jerk like the rest of my friends, and have fun, and not care about the consequences, but I just can't now.

Rest
Leonardo DiCaprio

Portraying emotionally ill characters gives me the chance to really act.

Chance
Leonardo DiCaprio

I don't know if I'm more confident than ever before, because I definitely had confidence when I was starting out. Maybe I have less confidence now that I did then.

Confidence
Leonardo DiCaprio

The good thing about acting is that it always keeps you on your toes... It's not like any other job where you can go in and do the same thing as yesterday.

Good
Leonardo DiCaprio

I've never been Romeo who meets a girl and falls for her immediately. It's been a much slower process for me each time I've gone into a relationship.

Relationship Dating Time
Leonardo DiCaprio

I love being immersed in nature, going to places in the world that are pristine and untouched by man. It's almost a religious experience when you go to a place like the Amazon, and there's no civilisation for thousands of miles.

Love Nature Experience
Leonardo DiCaprio

Considering all that's happened in my life, I feel like I'm a pretty levelheaded person that has remained happy and not let my shortcomings overtake the better part of me. I'm fulfilling the things I wanted to fulfill, and I'm still sane.

Life
Leonardo DiCaprio

I have very little fashion sense, and to tell you the truth, I give it very little thought. I dress to be as comfortable as I possibly can. Most of my clothing is either black, grey, or dark blue, and I don't really wear a lot of colours. But I do like jackets. I have a little bit of an obsession with them.

Dress Truth
Leonardo DiCaprio

I believe, you know, as history unfolds, certain films will disappear, and certain ones will stand the test of time. And you never know which ones those are. And you've just got to go for the opportunities of films you think might be memorable.

Time History
Leonardo DiCaprio

I don't think I ever expected anything like an Oscar ever, to tell you the truth. That is not my motivation when I do these roles. I really am motivated by being able to work with great people and create a body of work that I can look back and be proud of.

Greatness Truth Work
Leonardo DiCaprio

As a young boy, I was obsessed with endangered species and the extinct species that men killed off. Biology was the subject in school that I was incredibly passionate about.

School
Leonardo DiCaprio

The best thing about acting is that I get to lose myself in another character and actually get paid for it... It's a great outlet. I'm not really sure who I am - it seems I change every day.

Change Character
Leonardo DiCaprio

I'm just starting to scratch the surface of what really makes me happy and it's taken me a while to admit that acting like a little child and being a jerk and a punk is fun.

Fun
Leonardo DiCaprio

Television is better than it's ever been in history. A lot of stories are being pushed - because of how complicated they are to make - toward Netflix and other channels on cable.

History
Leonardo DiCaprio

I love scuba diving, and I've been up and down the Amazon.

Love
Leonardo DiCaprio

I have a production company,; I have a foundation. I have a lot of responsibilities. Not family - just a lot of responsibilities.

Family
Leonardo DiCaprio

I've managed to keep a clear head and remain sane in this business because I remain a kid off-camera.

Business
Leonardo DiCaprio

I have learned from my experiences in this industry that there is absolutely no way to control people's opinions on your performance in your movie. You go out there, promote your film and hope people like the work you did.

People Work Hope
Leonardo DiCaprio

I was always the kid in school who tried to get attention, not necessarily the class clown, but I'd do little unexpected performances.

School
Leonardo DiCaprio

Hopefully I've gotten better as an actor as the years have gone on, but the type of work I want to do has never changed.

Work
Leonardo DiCaprio

I've been very lucky to have achieved a lot of the things that I dreamt of achieving as a young man. But, at the end of the day - and I truly believe this - it is not about achieving great wealth or success. Because they don't bring happiness, ultimately.

Greatness Success Happiness
Leonardo DiCaprio

I like to be able to play a character and act out a lot of things which I can't or don't do in my normal everyday life.

Life Character Things
Leonardo DiCaprio

I haven't died in a movie in a while,'The Departed,' 'Body of Lies,' 'Revolutionary Road,' 'Shutter Island' and 'Inception.' I guess I did die in 'The Departed.'

Body
Leonardo DiCaprio

My love of performing goes way back. My mom got me on 'Romper Room' when I was five - it was my favorite show. But they couldn't control me. I would run up and smack the camera, and I'd jump around and do my little flips and routines. I wish I could get that tape now.

Love Control
Leonardo DiCaprio

If a studio is going to offer me the opportunity to invite my mother and grandmother and all my friends to visit me free of charge in Thailand, I'm going to take that opportunity.

Opportunities
Leonardo DiCaprio

I get unhappy doing things that I'm not passionate about. Because I feel like I'm squandering this incredible gift I've been given to finance films. As soon as my name alone was enough to make this happen, I vowed to myself that I was going to work with directors who were changing cinema, doing something important, you know?

Work
Leonardo DiCaprio

I am friends with Demi. Don't believe anything you read.

Leonardo DiCaprio

You do need parental guidance and I was in a great position with both my mum and dad. They split when I was a baby but even though I stayed with my mom they were both very much involved in my upbringing.

Greatness
Leonardo DiCaprio

The bottom line is, when it comes to an actor and his performance, whether nominated or not, it simply has to do with whether that character had enough resonance with the audience. You know, to the filmgoers. And that something that you can't control.

Character Control
Leonardo DiCaprio

With Romeo and Juliet, you're talking about two people who meet one night, and get married the same night. I believe in love at first sight-but it hasn't happened to me yet.

Love People
Leonardo DiCaprio

Hoover was incredibly ambitious as a young man. He was highly motivated to succeed in Washington, primarily due to his mother's expectations of him.

Leonardo DiCaprio

I realise that I do not change the course of history. I am an actor, I do a movie, that's the end of it. You have to realise we are just clowns for hire. After I had success it was great, at first, not to worry about money. It was on my mind when I was growing up.

Change Success History
Leonardo DiCaprio

I just want to keep doing what I'm doing and hopefully people will watch my movies.

People Movies
Leonardo DiCaprio

I don't ask other actors questions. I think that's too intrusive. I just watch. I don't want to be constricted to an idea of what acting is by anyone else. I want to take my own education.

Questions Education
Leonardo DiCaprio

Women have been the most persecuted people throughout all of recorded history, more than any race or religion.

People Women History
Leonardo DiCaprio

I get a friend to travel with me... I need somebody to bring me back to who I am. It's hard to be alone.

Travelling
Leonardo DiCaprio

I couldn't deal with playing a character who rides motorcycles and has a leather jacket and is a tough kid, y'know?

Character Tough
Leonardo DiCaprio

I went to a concert once when I was a little kid and ran up onstage, started dancing, started saying anything that came to my head. I was like a little vaudevillian.

Leonardo DiCaprio

My friends have named me the person they least want to do extreme adventures with, because I always seem to be very close to being part of a disaster. If a cat has nine lives, I think I've used a few.

Leonardo DiCaprio

My father, George, has also affected the choices in my life regarding films. I like films that take chances or say something different or experiment. Growing up with him, I was surrounded by different artists - not just actors or film-makers but cartoonists, poets, writers.

Life Selection Fathers
Leonardo DiCaprio

School, I never truly got the knack of. I could never focus on things I didn't want to learn.

School Focus
Leonardo DiCaprio

My parents, who were split up, were so good at keeping my environment strong and keeping everything around me not focused on the fact that we were poor. They got me culture. They took me to museums. They showed art to me. They read to me. And my mother drove two hours a day to take me to University Elementary School.

Good Art Culture
Leonardo DiCaprio

My parents know I was outgoing as a child, and whenever people came over, I'd automatically do impressions of them as soon as they left; it was my mom's favorite thing. Yes, I grew up in Hollywood, but not in any rich neighborhood.

People Parents
Leonardo DiCaprio

It's always this grand search in the industry to find good material. Whenever there is good material, they all jump on it, and it's like a food fight to get it made. That's why so many things take years and years to develop because it all shows up on screen.

Good Food
Leonardo DiCaprio

I like stories in specific time periods. 'The Revenant's' era of American history was fascinating because it was this lawless no-man's land. It defined the idea of the American frontiersman as man conquering nature. In a way, the story of Hugh Glass is about man dominating nature.

Nature Time History
Leonardo DiCaprio

I am trying to do the best work I possibly can and making movies that will have resonance for years to come. I think if you try for an Oscar or a goal like that, the more people are going to see it as transparent. It's not on my radar. If it happens, great, but I'm happy to continue working as I am, really.

Greatness Work
Leonardo DiCaprio

People are always like, 'It must be so hard for you, not to be able to leave your house. I'm like, 'No, I go where I want and do whatever I want all the time.' 'No, you walk down the street?' 'Yeah, I do all the time.' 'Really?' 'Yeah, all the time.'

People Time
Leonardo DiCaprio

There are a lot of directors I'd still love to work with. Paul Thomas Anderson is someone I'd love to work with. I think Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu is very talented. Ang Lee is very talented. I mean, there are a lot of people. There are many great directors out there.

Greatness Love People Work
Leonardo DiCaprio

I certainly don't eat raw bison liver on a regular basis.

Leonardo DiCaprio

I don't think anyone really gets used to being recognized around the world. It kind of feels like a videogame at times, especially with paparazzi and people following you and things of that nature. But it's part of who I am now.

Nature People World
Leonardo DiCaprio

A great white jumped into my cage when I was diving in South Africa. Half its body was in the cage, and it was snapping at me.

Greatness Body
Leonardo DiCaprio

As a kid, I was going to be a marine biologist or an actor. When I became successful as an actor, I said, 'Well, maybe I can lend a voice to this with an equal passion.' You realize how lucky we are and how destructive we've been and what little regard we have for the natural world.

Zeal World
Leonardo DiCaprio

I am completely open to doing a romantic comedy, but I will never do something just for the sake of doing a specific genre or because it's the time or place to do a different type of movie. I think that would be a huge mistake.

Romance Time
Leonardo DiCaprio

I didn't know what types of movies I wanted to do. I want to do things that are different. I want to take my time with each role.

Time Movies
Leonardo DiCaprio

I've been a pretty lucky man.

Leonardo DiCaprio

Being dubbed as a hunk sort of annoys me. It gives me a yucky feeling.

Feelings
Leonardo DiCaprio

If I want to go to a party with a few male friends, it doesn't mean I'm gay.

Leonardo DiCaprio

The role of Rimbaud is one of the most important roles to play for a young actor.

Play
Leonardo DiCaprio

I really don't know what I'm doing... I don't. It's terrible. I go in there and I learn how to be like the character and do the best I can, and that's all I really do.

Character
Leonardo DiCaprio

When I was 14, I was on the cover of 'Bop' and 'Tiger Beat.' Every two months, I would see a new kid's face, and I remember saying, 'This is not something that lasts very long.'

Leonardo DiCaprio

To be honest, I'm not really prepared to do a musical, simply because I think I have a pretty atrocious voice.

Leonardo DiCaprio

I saw all the moral decay you could, beginning at 2 years old. But I also got to see how the other half lived.

Leonardo DiCaprio

I took some time off after 'Titanic' because I needed to let the dust settle and recharge my battery. I felt, 'OK, you've been given a tremendous opportunity; what are you going to do with it? Now your name can finance movies that you do want to do.'

Opportunities Time Funding
Leonardo DiCaprio

I have to say that whatever decisions I make, I really do think that movie making is a director's medium. They are the people that ultimately shape the film, and a director can take great material and turn it into garbage if they are not capable of making a good movie.

Good Greatness People
Leonardo DiCaprio

If you have the ability to convince somebody of something that you don't necessarily think is the case, it's a valuable asset. Not that I'm, like, a pathological liar, but we spend most of the day not fully being honest, you know?

Leonardo DiCaprio

Hollywood is a very volatile place where artists come in, and they essentially say they want to belong. It's incredibly vulnerable to be an actor and also get criticism at a young age when you're formulating who you are. We've seen a lot of people fall victim to that, and it's very unfortunate.

Age People Fall
Leonardo DiCaprio

I've never done drugs. That's because I saw this stuff literally every day when I was 3 or 4 years old.

Leonardo DiCaprio

I love science fiction, but I have a hard time feeling for characters in a galaxy far away. Choosing movies is the one thing in my life where there's no compromising.

Life Love Science Time
Leonardo DiCaprio

I did imitations of anyone who came to my parents' house, and that was my identity at school - if there were ten minutes to lunch, and the teacher was done with the lesson, he'd say, 'Okay, Leo, get up there and do something.'

Uniqueness Parents Teachers
Leonardo DiCaprio

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