Leonardo DiCaprio

Leonardo DiCaprio was born in Los Angeles in 1974. His parents separated when he was very young, and he grew up with his mother in a not-so-wealthy neighborhood. From filming commercials and appearing on television as a boy, he gradually found his way onto the path of acting, showing early a spark far beyond his years.

What truly made the industry remember him was the Oscar nomination he earned at nineteen for playing the intellectually disabled younger brother in What's Eating Gilbert Grape. A few years later, Jack in Titanic made him an idol to the whole world overnight. Yet the overwhelming fame also brought trouble; labeled a teen idol, he thereafter deliberately chose harder roles, wanting to prove he was a real actor.

His long collaboration with director Martin Scorsese became the key to this transformation. From Gangs of New York, The Aviator and The Departed to The Wolf of Wall Street, one demanding film after another forged him into a serious performer; in between, he also carried Nolan's Inception. Time after time he was nominated for an Oscar and time after time missed out, which instead became a topic fans brought up year after year.

The wait ended in 2016. For The Revenant, filmed in extreme conditions, he finally took home the Oscar for Best Actor, and used his acceptance speech to steer the conversation toward climate change. This was both a coronation of his acting career and an echo of his other identity.

Off camera, DiCaprio has devoted himself to environmental protection for years. He set up a foundation bearing his own name, funding wildlife, ocean and climate projects, was appointed a UN Messenger of Peace on climate, and has repeatedly made public appeals on international stages. A former teen idol became, in the end, one of the most seriously regarded actors in Hollywood and one of its best-known environmental spokespeople.