~*LEO FACTS*~
He was named Leonardo after his pregnant mom paid a visit to an Italian museum. While admiring a da Vinci painting at the Uffizzi Gallery in Florence, she felt a big kick from the baby--and little Leo was thus monikered.
His parents, George and Irmelin DiCaprio, are '60s hippies who separated before Leo was born.
Before devoting her time to managing Leonardo's career, his mom was a secretary and his dad was a distributor of underground comic books.
As a teenager, he appeared in an educational film titled How to Deal with a Parent Who Takes Drugs.
As a youth, he was
nicknamed "Leonardo Retardo" because, as he says, he got through school by cheating off his classmates' papers and break-dancing in the cafeteria.
His first $1 million-plus paycheck: Titanic.
His first car was a Jeep Grand Cherokee, which he bought for himself when he turned 18.
During one of his frequent nights out while filming The Basketball Diaries in New York, he took a date to the trendy Bowery Bar, spotted a Russian model he liked better, dumped his date and hurried back to his hotel, model in tow. The next morning, the model would say only that Leonardo "was not very romantic."
Favorite new hobby:
looking for art in trendy Soho galleries. (Both Jack Nicholson and Madonna have told Leo that art is a wise investment for the piles o' cash he's earning.)
The Leonardo movie you probably won't get to see is Don's Plum, about a group of friends who spend an evening riffing about life at an L.A. diner. Leo (and friend Tobey Maguire) agreed to do the movie for free as a favor to director R.D. Robb, a childhood bud of DiCaprio. Leonardo says he agreed to do the piece only as a short film and that Robb expanded it to feature length to capitalize on his fame; Robb says
Leo knew all along it would be a feature. With the two still locked in debate and studios loath to upset Hollywood's hottest property, it should be a while before Don's Plum hits theaters.
In the flick Total Eclipse, Leo appears totally in the buff and gets his first onscreen kiss from a
guy--actor David Thewlis.
His favorite places to shop: in New York, Prada, Mossimo and Barneys; in L.A., Fred Segal.
He spent New Year's Eve with Sara Gilbert and other friends at the trendy South Beach nightclub Bash, which is owned by Sean Penn.
His dates for last year's Cannes Film Festival were his mom and grandma.
Favorite hangouts: Bash in Miami, Tunnel and Life in New York and Sky Bar, Barfly and Millenium in L.A.
He's known for his dead-on impressions of Michael Jackson, former Growing Pains costar Kirk Cameron, Romeo + Juliet costar John Leguizamo and Titanic director James Cameron.
When he found out De Niro had chosen him to play Tobias Wolfe in the film version of Wolfe's autobiography, This Boy's Life, DiCaprio became so excited he punched a hole in the ceiling. (He turned down a role in Hocus Pocus to take the role.)
When the Basketball Diaries script called for his character to snort cocaine, he sniffed Ovaltine and would later have to scrape his nose clean with Q-Tips.
Although he went on to receive a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his role as retarded
brother Arnie in What's Eating Gilbert Grape?, Leonardo was originally passed over for the role because he was thought to be too handsome.
Although he denies it was a dating relationship, he and Alicia Silverstone attended a series of self-help workshops called the Forum in Los Angeles.
He is a fan of infomercial self-help guru Anthony Robbins.
Leo devoured bags of caramel covered popcorn while filmimg Romeo & Juliet.
Leo says his first kiss was, "Disgusting. The girl injected about a pound of saliva in my mouth".
Since his dad remarried he has a step-brother named Adam.
Leo bought his dad a sports car for his 50th birthday.
Until late last year Leo lived with his mom.
Leo's groupd of friends include his Titanic personal assistant Jonah Johnson and The Ice Storm actor Tobey Maguire.
~*LEO'S NOT LIST*~
Skip the star trip. This down-to-earth sweetie waits in line at nightclubs until all his buds are allowed inside.
He doesnt like the stares his gorgeous looks attract, "Is it becasue they recognize me or they think I'm weird?" he wonders. "You really start to take it personally. You think, Is there something on my face?" Even Kate Winslet says he's modest. "He can't take compliments", she says.
Body piercing. "I'm afraid of leaving a little hole in my face. Or having a tattoo and living with that stupid painting for the rest of my life. Why not just get a poster and put it up in your room?"
No stealing! As a kid, he stole a piece of bubble gum from a convenience store. "But I stopped after that because I beleive in karma."
All washed up. After shotting ten takes in a downpour and an equal number with his head dunked in a sink for his role as Romeo, Leo asked, "Is there going to be a day when I don't get wet?" Not likely. He immediatly went to shoot that aquatic wonder, Titanic. "Leo was like a cat", says James Cameron. "He made this big drama about getting wet."
~*15 THINGS THAT ROCK HIS WORLD*~
1. Basketball.
2. Pasta.
3. Lemonade.
4. Cool wheels. He's got a BMW and a big truck.
5. Having fun between takes. On the set of Romeo & Juliet, Leo entertained himself by hitting people over the head with twizzlers. During The Basketball Diaries, he blew bubbles between scenes. "It's impulsive," he explains. "I don't know where it comes from."
6. "Brunettes-becasue there are more of them," he jokes.
7. Skydiving.
8. Headbands. He wears them to keep his lucious locks out of his eyes.
9. Cartwheels, He did them during his downtime on the set of R&J.
10. Sony Playstation. He took a TV with European adapters along with him to Paris so he could play his fave games there.
11. On-set wresting:Claire Danes (thumbs only) and Kate Winslet (full body contact).
12. Practical jokes. He dumped a bucket fullof ice water on director James Cameron's head on the day Titanic wrapped.
13. Pinball.
14. His family.
15. Reptiles. Leo had a pet bearded dragon lizard named Blizz.
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Email: amyf@vicnet.net
