Every Leonardo DiCaprio movie role ranked, from "The Departed "to "The Revenant"
Paramount; Mary Cybulski/Paramount; Kimberley French/20th Century What makesLeonardo DiCapriosuch an enduring presence in film is how thoughtfully he chooses his projects. And once he does, he pours all of his energy into the performance, making him one of the last true movie stars who can open a film no matter what, just because he's in it. He's also one of the few stars to truly maintain his fame over decades and decades, from his Oscar-nominated breakthrough role inWhat's Eating Gilbert Grape(1993) to his instantly iconic work inTitanic(1997) to his collaborations with some of the best auteur directors likeMartin Scorsese,Steven Spielberg, andQuentin Tarantino. When he won his Oscar forThe Revenant(2015) on his fifth career acting nomination (he earned a sixth acting nod in 2020), it felt like a coronation moment after a long career — despite him only being 41 at the time. Ahead, we rank every Leonardo DiCaprio film performance —aside from the literally unwatchableDon's Plum— from worst to best. And the 1993 Oscar for the very specific category of best five seconds of walking in the background of a scene goes to DiCaprio in a runaway (or walkaway). Considering that is literally his only appearance in thisDrew Barrymore-led thriller, there has to be some scenes that landed on the cutting room floor. —Derek Lawrence DiCaprio sure has come a long way from being called a pervert in the first minute of his film debut in the straight-to-DVD third installment of the distinguishedCrittersfranchise. Starring as Josh, young Leo is pretty good at being scared and not getting killed by these so-called critters, but his costar Aimee Brooks is probably the standout, that is if you were forced to make a pick from what DiCaprio himself calls "one of the worst films of all time." (The zero percent rating on Rotten Tomatoesnods in agreement.) —D.L. In one of the oddest — and most unsuccessful — pairings of his career, DiCaprio stars as the brash and classless Arthur Rimbaud oppositeDavid Thewlisas Paul Verlaine. The very erotic historical drama tracks the romance between the real-life poets and features naked Leo, naked wrestling, a lot of sex, a lot of overacting, Leo with a mustache, and not nearly enough time demonstrating the supposed greatness of its subjects. Maybe they themselves could have written a more compelling account of their own lives. —D.L. Three years after hitting new heights of fame withTitanic, DiCaprio got back in the water — only to much different results. Coasting on its star's popularity, directorDanny Boyle's film became a hit at the box office, and only the box office. Between the troubled production, Boyle regretting casting Leo as the adventure-seeking Richard over hisTrainspottingstarEwan McGregor, and Leo earning a Razzie nomination, no one seemed to enjoy their time on the beach. Well, except for the tourists who have sinceruined the once beautiful Thai location. —D.L. InRussell Crowe's U.S. film debut, it wasSharon Stone's much younger costar who she was obsessed with,allegedly paying part of DiCaprio's salary. "He's so good, it's scary,"Stone told EW in 1995. "I was dying to have him be in this movie. I would have carried the boy on my back to the set every day if that's what it would have taken." As the brash and cocky gunslinger Fee "the Kid" Herod, Leo isn't shooting above his weight, but his performance also doesn't scream "Sharon Stone should carry me on her back to the set every day." Maybe more like a golf cart ride level. —D.L. No lie, this should have been a home run. It's actually still hard to believe thatRidley Scottreuniting with hisGladiatorstar Russell Crowe, and DiCaprio reuniting with hisDepartedscreenwriter William Monahan, resulted in such a generic spy thriller.Body of Liesisn't bad, it just sort of exists — kind of like the name Roger Ferris. Leo is many things, and "Roger Ferris" is not one of them. —D.L. Riding the wave ofTitanic's record-breaking success, DiCaprio's next film was a commercial hit — and a Razzie winner for Worst Screen Couple. And the real kick-a-guy-when-he's-down element is that he was the whole couple, considering Leo played royal twins Philippe and Louis, one good and one evil (isn't that always how it goes?), in thisThree Musketeersadaptation. While Philippe is a pretty boring and vanilla character, DiCaprio gets to dial it up a bit as Louis in one of his few villainous turns, making this writer wonder if he could have playedGame of Thrones' King Joffrey in an alternate world. —D.L. Who do we blame for this miss? The lighting department? The makeup team?Clint Eastwood? (This absolutely feels like a Clint Eastwood movie — which itis— but that's not a compliment here.) Probably all of them, including Leo, who doesn't get out fully unscathed in this snoozefest of a J. Edgar Hoover biopic. Although his gravitas and dedication are on full display, unfortunately, it doesn't stop the performance from feeling like a caricature at times. The fact that this actor didn't get an Oscar nom for this role tells you all you need to know. —D.L. Playing a character with drug addiction is a balancing act that can often go bad in the wrong hands. Obviously, few hands are more capable than DiCaprio's, but even he is guilty of overacting in this autobiographical film about writer Jim Carroll. And while both his performance andThe Basketball Diariesoften feel like too much, he still finds a way to bring home the heartbreak, particularly in a scene where he goes from begging his mom for money to unloading on her to breaking down. —D.L. In his final pre-Titanicfilm, the burgeoning star plays troubled juvenile Hank Lacker and is surrounded by veteran stars likeMeryl Streep,Diane Keaton, andRobert De Niro. And it's by working opposite his Oscar-winning scene partners — whether arguing with Streep or bonding with Keaton — that he shows he belongs. —D.L. And thus begins one of the most fruitful actor-director partnerships of the 21st century — if not ever. In the first of his many collaborations with Martin Scorsese, DiCaprio is given the impossible task of going toe-to-toe with one of the greatest actors of all time,Daniel Day-Lewis. But, perhaps smartly, it never feels like a true two-hander, with DiCaprio and his revenge-seeking Amsterdam Vallon mostly clearing out for another unforgettable outing from Day-Lewis. But Leo showed enough that he'd never play second fiddle in a Scorsese movie again. —D.L. Niko Tavernise/Netflix The online discourse surrounding writer-directorAdam McKay's sci-fi satire has overshadowed any of the performances from the star-studded cast, led by DiCaprio andJennifer Lawrence. It's an intriguing pairing that would have been served better by a different time, in a different project. DiCaprio stars as Dr. Randall Mindy, a professor at Michigan State University who sees his profile and career trajectory rise when he attempts to warn the nation of an incoming comet that's projected to hit Earth and cause catastrophic devastation. Mindy is the anti-DiCaprio, a timid, bookish, married (to a woman close to his age) man. It's both easy to wonder and easy to see why DiCaprio wanted to makeDon't Look Up. It's one of the thinner parts of his movie star career, but the noted environmentalist is given an exhausted monologue late in the movie that essentially summarizes McKay's thoughts on our indifference to the threat of climate change. Considering themixed reviews, we understand if you'd rather take our word for it than look it up. —D.L. Honestly, the legacy ofBaz Luhrmann's flashy reunion with DiCaprio isthe GIFsit gave the world. As the illustrious and mysterious Jay Gatsby, Leo manages to simultaneously be cool and awkward, as well as the most interesting part of this dazzling misfire. Most importantly, it allows me to imagine that the way Nick Carraway idolizes Gatsby is identical to howTobey Maguirelooks at DiCaprio. —D.L. Considering it once appeared to be an unspoken rule that every actor had to do at least oneWoody Allenmovie, DiCaprio puts in his bid here, joined by an impressive ensemble that includesKenneth Branagh,Winona Ryder,Melanie Griffith,Sam Rockwell,Gretchen Mol,Charlize Theron,Famke Janssen,Donald Trump, and futureEntouragestarAdrian Grenier, fittingly, as a member of Leo's entourage. While much of the film finds Branagh doing his best Allen impression as, inexplicably, all the aforementioned gorgeous women throw themselves at this travel writer, DiCaprio shows up halfway through as Brandon Darrow, a young movie star who takes Branagh's Lee on a night of gambling, partying, and sex. It's a much-welcomed intermission that isbest summed up by EW's critic: "In every minute of DiCaprio's participation — some 10 to 20 in all — he juicesCelebritywith a power surge that subsides as soon as he exits." —D.L. You're not imagining how lowInceptionslots in on this list. For the most part, every movie that DiCaprio is in is aDiCaprio movie, with a few exceptions — namely his team-ups with directors whose films are events in their own right, such as Quentin Tarantino andChristopher Nolan. And while Leo as the haunted Dom Cobb adds to the spectacle of Nolan's ruminativeInception, the concept and execution are what made this an Oscar-winning blockbuster. If anything, it'sTom Hardy, in a breakout performance, that jumps off the screen. —D.L. In his first non-Crittersstarring role, Leo was handpicked by Robert De Niro for this coming-of-age drama. And as Toby Wolff, the son of a single mom (Ellen Barkin) in the 1950s, DiCaprio battles it out with De Niro, who plays the boy's physically and emotionally abusive new stepfather. It was a winning partnership for the present and future go-to stars for Martin Scorsese. —D.L. DiCaprio fares much better in his first collaboration with Baz Luhrmann, starring as Romeo oppositeClaire Danes' Juliet inEW's fourth-ranked takeonWilliam Shakespeare's famed tragedy. Thankfully, DiCaprio and company know exactly the movie they are in and go all-in on Luhrmann's use of Shakespeare's original dialogue in anMTVworld. We all know where this story is headed, but Leo sells the hell out of the final moments of this doomed romance. —D.L. After a few years of historical biopics, DiCaprio got gritty in 2006, betweenThe DepartedandBlood Diamond. And despite the prestige surrounding Martin Scorsese's gangster tale, it was instead his performance as South African gunrunner Danny Archer that brought Leo an Oscar nom that year. Much attention has been paid to DiCaprio's accent work inBlood Diamond(andThe Departed), but behind that is a forgotten performance that, aided by fellow Oscar nomineeDjimon Hounsouas the true heart of the film, rises above everything else around them. —D.L. François Duhamel/Paramount Eleven years after going down as one of cinema's great love stories,TitanicstarsKate Winsletand Leonardo DiCaprio reunited as April and Frank Wheeler, a 1950s couple finding themselves living unhappily ever after. The drama from director (and Winslet's then-husband)Sam Mendesis the definition of an actor's showcase for DiCaprio, Winslet, andMichael Shannon, with crying, screaming, and arguments galore. And yet, as good as those three are, only Shannon earned an Oscar nom — with DiCaprio facing a loaded Best Actor field and Winslet, instead, winning for her role inThe Reader. —D.L. With a few notable exceptions, DiCaprio has rarely allowed himself to be seen in such a negative light as he does inKillers of the Flower Moon, a Scorsese epic that recounts the systematic murders of Osage Nation by white men in the 1920s. As Ernest Burkhart, a simple-minded man manipulated to do unspeakable things, DiCaprio presents his character's moral conflict with complexity. Yet, his performance is a bit overshadowed by the impact of Robert De Niro as Ernest's malevolent uncle and particularlyLily Gladstoneas his wife, Mollie, who sees her entire family decimated and nearly becomes a victim herself. —Kevin Jacobsen Well, this wasn't exactly teen heartthrob status, but it was quite the breakthrough for the 19-year-old actor. DiCaprio's performance as the sweet Arnie lands in the top 10 because of the challenges involved with such a delicate role and the fact that it was pulled off by someone so early in their career. WhileJohnny Deppwas the titular Gilbert Grape and already a bonafide star, it was Leo who stole the well-received drama — and earned his first Oscar nomination. —D.L. Despite essentially being the lead of the film that finally won Martin Scorsese his first and only Best Director trophy, DiCaprio is somehow the forgotten man ofThe Departed. WhileMatt Damon,Jack Nicholson, andMark Wahlberg— the lone cast member to be Oscar-nominated here — get the showier roles, Leo gives a more internal performance as Billy Costigan Jr., a rookie cop who was broken long before going undercover. It's the type of role that proved the teen heartthrob had fully arrived as a grown-up movie star. —D.L. BeforeInceptionbecame a summer smash, DiCaprio's big year of being haunted by dead wives began with Martin Scorsese's neo-noir psychological thriller. Without giving away the film's twist, Leo stars as U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels, who slowly unravels as he and his partner (Mark Ruffalo)investigate a missing person case at a hospital for the criminally insane. The inexplicable decision to release this film in February, virtually removing it from awards consideration, is a big reason why this will go down as DiCaprio's most underrated showing. —D.L. One of Hollywood's great sliding doors is DiCaprio turning downBoogie NightsforTitanic. Mark Wahlberg became a movie star and Leo became "the king of the world." As the well-traveled Jack Dawson, Leo exudes an innocent charm, whether he's sparring with the wealthy or romancing Kate Winslet's Rose. Now, withJames Cameronwinning Best Picture and Best Director and Kate Winslet getting a Best Actress nom, the least they could have done is make room for him on that spacious door (even Brad Pitt would have!). —D.L. All DiCaprio had to do to finally win an Oscar was get attacked by a bear, sleep in a horse carcass, and almost freeze himself to death. That is just a bit of why frontiersperson Hugh Glass is easily Leo's most ambitious, determined, and grueling performance. And while most actors don't end up winning for their best work, and that's certainly the case for DiCaprio, this was no career achievement award. —D.L. I'm not sure if you've noticed yet, but this Martin Scorsese might know a thing or two about getting incredible performances from incredible actors. In most years, DiCaprio's turn as the eccentric Howard Hughes would be an Oscar-winning lock, but he ran into the buzzsaw that wasJamie Foxx's showstopping portrayal ofRay Charles. Leo manages to subtly play Hughes' growing paranoia and fear before his obsessive-compulsive nature fully takes over. —D.L. Andrew Cooper/DreamWorks The same year that DiCaprio became the apple of Martin Scorsese's eye, he also partnered up with Steven Spielberg andTom Hanks, a.k.a. Spielberg's own Leo. As con artist Frank Abagnale Jr., the actor is as likable as ever, using his charisma to believably talk his way into being a pilot, doctor, or lawyer. But it's the moments that he's the real Frank Jr., the child of a broken home who wants nothing more than to be a family again, that makes this one to catch anytime it's on. "Everything they took from us, I'm going to get it back," he proudly tells Frank Sr. (Christopher Walken), before begging his father to "ask me to stop." —D.L. For the only time in his career thus far, DiCaprio fully broke bad, and when he decided to go for it, hewentfor it. Leo's cruel plantation owner Calvin Candie doesn't show up until more than an hour into Quentin Tarantino's Western, but his arrival is when things really get cookin'. It's a despicably magnetic performance that slowly builds to an epic 20-minute climactic dinner scene. With material like this (DiCaprio andSamuel L. Jacksonare a perfect evil match), it's no wonder that he would reunite with Tarantino for some more movie magic. —D.L. Rick Dalton, an aging star trying to stay relevant in the changing Hollywood around him, feels like the most personal and reflective role of DiCaprio's career so far. Thankfully, though, he doesn't have to worry anytime soon about making spaghetti Westerns in Italy or being the heavy in a TV pilot. There are so many marvelous moments, big and small, from DiCaprio in Quentin Tarantino's ninth film, ranging from losing it in Rick's trailer to crying when his young costar says that was the best acting she'd ever seen to his juvenile marvel upon being invited up to Sharon Tate's (Margot Robbie) home. He might have lost the Oscar toJoaquin Phoenix(theJoker's worst joke yet), but, after four years off, Leo returned with a force and reminded us that he's Leonardo F---ing DiCaprio, don't you forget it. —D.L. Excuse my language, but when talking aboutThe Wolf of Wall Street, once the record-holder for expletives in a film, Leo can only be described as a f---ing powerhouse in his portrayal of real-life sex and drug-fueled stockbroker Jordan Belfort. And while he's not usually known for making us laugh, Jordan and Donny's (Jonah Hill) lengthy quaalude trip is physical comedy at its finest. It's an iconic performance, further solidifying that he's "not f---ing leaving" his spot as our greatest movie star. —D.L. Read the original article onEntertainment Weekly
Every Leonardo DiCaprio movie role ranked, from "The Departed "to "The Revenant" Paramount; Mary Cybulski/Paramount; Kim...
