12 of Leonardo DiCaprio’s Best Roles to Date
From a tragic Shakespearean hero to a millionaire stockbroker, Leonardo DiCaprio has depicted a broad range of weird and wonderful characters across our screens for three decades. After his breakout in the Academy Award-nominated What’s Eating Gilbert Grape and, later, his tear-jerking performance in Titanic, he solidified his status as a ’90s heartthrob. More recently, we have seen him play a charismatic con man, a legendary tycoon, and a rugged frontiersman, all the while scooping up countless awards along the way. Here, we look back on his most impactful roles to date.
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What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
DiCaprio received his first Academy Award nomination for the role of Arnie Grape—a young boy facing a number of challenges after the death of his father.
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Romeo + Juliet (1996)
DiCaprio pulls on every young girl’s heartstrings as he plays the hopelessly-in-love Romeo in Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation of the Shakespearean tragedy.
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Titanic (1997)
DiCaprio stars alongside Kate Winslet in this unforgettable romantic drama that tells the story of Rose and Jack, whose paths cross on the ill-fated ship.
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The Beach (2000)
DiCaprio stars as Richard, a cocky young traveler whose possession of a strange map leads him to what he believes will be a mystical paradise, in this adventure saga.
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Gangs of New York (2002)
Set in 1860s New York, the actor stars as a young Irish ex-convict seeking revenge against the man who killed his father in Martin Scorsese’s historical epic.
