The six stages of Leonardo DiCaprio

LEONARDO DiCaprio has just won his first Academy Award and he’s totally transformed himself to get there. Here are the six versions of Leo.

WHEN you enter the name ‘Leonardo’ into a Google search-bar, legendary multi-disciplined genius Leonardo da Vinci is the third suggested result.

The first and second suggestions belong to the man who sits comfortably at the top of the Hollywood A-list — Leonardo ‘Leo’ DiCaprio.

This year, the baby-faced powerhouse is finally won an Oscar statuette — an award some believe teenage Leo should have picked up twenty-three years ago for What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?

He did it! He finally did it! Picture: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Whether you long to live it up with Leo on a Cannes-docked yacht or you’d rather watch an Adam Sandler film than another DiCaprio-lead spectacle, it cannot be denied that the most famous Leo on earth has put in more than the hard yards.

Here are the six stages of Leonardo DiCaprio’s acting career.

CHILD ACTOR LEO

Too cute! Leo in his ‘Parenthood’ years.

At the recent Critics Choice awards, Leo accepted the award for Best Actor with a nod to his parents, thanking them for driving around an ambitious little kid to various auditions after school.

From the start, DiCaprio was not your usual child star. He wasn’t pushed into it by a repressed stage-parent. He wanted it, and no parental objection was ever going to make a difference.

Leo’s first contact with the camera lens was through a television commercial for Bubble Yum, where his commitment and enthusiasm makes chewing gum seem like a new and novel idea. He then moved to television, with a role in the first (and failed) adaptation of Ron Howard’s film Parenthood, and in now-Evangelical poster-boy Kirk Cameron’s Growing Pains.

Leo brought appropriate cheese to these sitcom supporting roles, thus convincing the film world to give the boy a shot.

YOUNG CHARACTER-ACTOR LEO

Critics still say Leo should have won an Oscar for this role in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? Who knew it would take so long!

Though Leo’s first film appearance was in the direct-to-VHS horror Critters 3, one particular film role launched the DiCaprio name — This Boy’s Life.

Again, at the Critics Choice Awards, Leo cited playing Toby as a turning point in his career. Which is understandable, considering the fact he played opposite Robert De Niro and matched the living legend’s intensity.

That same year, DiCaprio earned his first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? and still to this day, critics call foul. DiCaprio’s depiction of Johnny Depp’s brother still stands as one of the most believable interpretations of the mentally disabled ever put to screen.

HEARTTHROB LEO

Be still our beating hearts.

Also known as Centrefold Leo, Dreamboat Leo and Hair Leo.

How dreamy was post-pubescent Leonardo DiCaprio? Let me count the ways.

From the moment Leo’s Romeo turns from a page of handwritten poetry, flicks his perfect fringe asunder and glances at the camera, all set to Radiohead’s Talk Show Host, I wanted to be Leonardo DiCaprio, as so did many a teenage boy. And I shouldn’t have to mention the effect the kid had on teenage girls.

Claire Danes stealing the kiss every girl wanted.

From Leo’s acclaimed role in Baz’s Romeo & Juliet, his stardom only grew. James Cameron was the first to tempt the boy over to a genuine blockbuster — the film event of the 90s, Titanic. 1997-98 belonged to Leo and Kate, and their partnership remains one of the most revered (and ridiculed) cinematic romances.

NEW ROBERT DE NIRO LEO

Just like Robert De Niro before him, Leo became Martin Scorsese’s favourite actor.

Not nine years after starring alongside Martin Scorsese’s favourite collaborator in This Boy’s Life, Leo became the unofficial new Robert De Niro. The Taxi Driver director saw a similar enigma in DiCaprio as he did in De Niro — an actor driven by an otherworldly obsession to deliver something fresh and distinct each time in front of the camera, no matter the physical or emotional toll.

Leonardo Di Caprio as Billy Costigan in a scene from 2006 Scorsese film 'The Departed'.

Over six years, Leo appeared in three Scorsese epics — Gangs of New York (2002), The Aviator (2004) and The Departed (2006), the latter of which picked up Best Picture, and somehow he still found the time to star in a cracker of a Spielberg film — Catch Me If You Can (2002).

Leo’s relationship Scorsese, one of his two ‘film fathers’ (the other being De Niro), flourishes to this day. The pair will collaborate on the upcoming The Devil in the White City.

EVERY-OTHER DIRECTOR LEO

Leo nailed his role in The Great Gatsby, even if the rest of the Baz Luhrmann film didn’t deliver.

Here’s where Leo entered a league of his own. Not many actors end up in their own league (Streep, Day Lewis, Blanchett, Seymour Hoffman), but when they do, the sky’s the limit. You know when you clock Leo in a film you’ll get something out of it, even if the film itself never manages to reach his level (I’m looking at you, Gatsby).

This Leo is a piggy in the middle, running back and forth between legendary directors and delivering a degree of gold each time. From Calvin Candie in Tarantino’s Django Unchained (2012), to Cobb in Nolan’s Inception (2010), to starring roles in Mendes’ Revolutionary Road (2008), Scott’s Body of Lies (2008), and Eastwood’s J. Edgar (2011).

And of course, an additional two Scorsese films for good measure — Shutter Island (2010) and The Wolf Of Wall Street (2013).

OSCAR LEO

Leo unleashed!

It’s relatively ironic that Leo snagged an Oscar for a role that’s largely unspoken, considering how much effort the man puts into dialects. In another way, it makes total sense, as it’s the first time in a while we’ve seen Leo’s insides take precedence over all that concentrated preparation.

For The Revenant, director Alejandro González Iñárritu wanted Leo to rediscover a vulnerability that’s been missing from his performances since What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? We’re glad Iñárritu had the stones to go there, as it showed us a new Leo — one far removed from the baby-faced hunk we all know and love. Instead of a heart-throb or a meticulous character actor, we get a primal man unleashed.

At 41 years of age, Leonardo DiCaprio has achieved more than most actors can imagine, and the world awaits to see what the next 40 will bring.

Jeremy Cassar is a screenwriter and novelist from Sydney.

Originally published as The six stages of Leonardo DiCaprio