The movie that left Leonardo DiCaprio with a “very empty existence”
Leonardo DiCaprio spent the 1990s carving out a place for himself in Hollywood that he has occupied ever since. He earned the admiration of Robert De Niro in This Boy’s Life, an Academy Award nomination for What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, and reinvented Romeo for Baz Luhrmann’s take on Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers, but it was Titanic that would become his defining project from that era.
Helmed by blockbuster giant James Cameron, the 1997 film followed a love story set on board the Titanic. DiCaprio took on the now-iconic role of Jack Dawson opposite Kate Winslet’s Rose in what would become one of the most celebrated romances put to film. Somewhere between nude portraits and parties below deck, the film became integral not only to DiCaprio’s filmography but to cinema as a whole.
To call Titanic a box office smash almost undersells its success. The romance took in so much money that it became the highest-earning film in cinema history. DiCaprio was showered in praise for his performance, but he didn’t necessarily enjoy the after-effects of global stardom.
Speaking with the New York Times about his experience following the success of Titanic, DiCaprio deemed it a “very empty existence”. As he recalled it, he would drive around Los Angeles, “stressed out of [his] head,” dodging paparazzi and fake friends. He would pause to think to himself, “Wait a minute. What am I dealing with?”
“Some movie that I don’t want to do anyway,” he mused, “three paparazzi chasing me. I have this person who I thought was my friend who wasn’t. I’d get headaches from dealing with pure unadulterated garbage.” Though DiCaprio could acknowledge this, he also suggested that it was inevitable. “It becomes who you are,” he explained, “You’re suddenly defined in the media as a cutie-pie.”
DiCaprio did manage to eventually claw himself out of this “empty existence”, however. Refusing to be contained into a box, he resolved not to define himself to the public, reinventing himself with each new role. While Titanic may have set him up to be typecast as a “cutie pie” romantic lead, he sought out projects that went against that image.
In the years that followed, he starred as a real-life con artist under Steven Spielberg’s direction in Catch Me If You Can and embarked upon a slew of collaborations with Martin Scorsese, beginning with Gangs of New York. He would play romantic leads again – in Luhrmann’s adaptation of the glamorous Gatsby, for example – but he refused to limit himself.
Even now, decades since he found global success as Jack Dawson, DiCaprio continues to embark upon exciting and unexpected projects. He has consistently proven himself to be one of the most adaptable actors in Hollywood, able to take on just about any character and any story that intrigues him.
While the success of Titanic may have left DiCaprio feeling empty for a short while, it was the project that solidified his early success with unparalleled success in sales and awards. It also seems to have pushed DiCaprio to find projects that enable him to avoid that feeling of emptiness, his refusal to be typecast gifting us with some of the greatest films in modern cinema.
Titanic may have defined his early success in the 1990s, but it hasn’t defined DiCaprio’s career.
