Leonardo DiCaprio: Being an actor is the first thing that I remember wanting to do in life.
I remember 14, 15-years-old, watching some classic films. Well, spending months and months watching
all the great classics, all the great performers of the past, and being so incredibly inspired by
them and saying to myself, "One day, I want to come close to doing something that good.
So I think that thirst, or that drive, to just achieve what I believe is something as good as
those heroes that I have is what continues to make me want to do this.
Leonardo DiCaprio is one of the most recognizable faces in Hollywood. He starred
in various famous movies and was awarded several accolades, including an Oscar for best actor.
His insane drive took his career to extremely high levels,
and though he achieved so much, there still is a lot more to be conquered in his plans.
From a young age, he knew what he wanted to do and he pursued it until he got it.
If you have an inspiration, a dream, or a desire you have to pursue it.
Don’t leave your dreams for tomorrow. There’s no time like today!
Interviewer: Has acting turned out to be all that you wanted it to be?
Leonardo DiCaprio: It's incredible. It's incredible.
I never knew that I could do it as a career. I never knew… It was the first memory that had.
It's the first thing I can think of is saying, "I want to be an actor." to my parents. And if I
hadn't lived in Los Angeles and been in such close proximity to sort of the mecca of movie-making.
If I didn't have parents that said, "Okay, we'll drive you to auditions." We didn't have
the economic means to move camp from Idaho to Los Angeles because some snotty 10-year-old kid says,
"I want to be an actor!" We did it, and after school, I got to go on auditions. But it always,
and I've said this before, it felt like an elite group of people and it felt like
I would never belong to them. So once I got the opportunity to,
for example, get the movie This Boy's Life with Robert DeNiro. I said, wow, now I'm able to…
I might be able to steer the course of my career. I might be able to have a career similar
to these guys that I so admire. And that, I knew at 15-years-old, was the biggest gift in
the world. And that's never left me. I've never, I've never, that thirst or that hunger for wanting
to give one great performance that I'm truly satisfied with or be in one movie that I said,
"I love this film is something that I don't know will ever be quenched. I don't know. And I think
that's a good thing because it keeps pushing me, you know? Constantly dissatisfied, in other words.
Many times, it will seem like what you want
is impossible. You will feel like you don’t belong in the place where you want to be.
But there’s a reason why you want those things. It is because they can be achieved.
It only depends on you. What are you going to do?
What are you willing to sacrifice? How bad do you want it?
If you want to be everything you always admired your hunger must be infinite.
You must never be satisfied. Always look for more. Always go
for the next best thing. Give everything you have.
Passion, dedication, and hard work. That’s what creates success.
Leonardo DiCaprio: You're sort of set up and you're put into this system where I think that
you're supposed to be a jack-of-all-trades. And you're 11,12 years old, there's sort
of condition to say, well you know the casting directors are there and say “well,
can you juggle?” And you're like, “absolutely, I can juggle”, you know. “Can you ski?” Hell yeah,
I’m your man, I’ll do whatever you want.” “You know tap dancing?” So you're supposed to like
set yourself up as somebody that can, you know basically do anything that they want.
And I remember sort of having that attitude for a while and I didn't book a job for
like a year at like 12,13 years old. I know that's not like a big sob story
but the truth is, it was that year of like like rejection where I finally said to my, I kind of
I suppose I took a different attitude towards the audition process. And I started to get jobs after
that and I think it was really because I said to myself, you know, I'm not dependent on this
job, you know, I'm not, this isn't going to define me, you know. And I started to sell myself less,
prepare more for the roles, you know, really investigate the characters as much as I could
and not feel like, you know, my self-worth was dependent on whether I booked the job or not.
And I think that's finally what clicked with me and I realized that casting directors weren't
always necessarily looking for the, you know, the Broadway show men that could do
whatever they wanted but somebody that had you know, I don't want to say a little edge to them,
but you know a different attitude about the audition process. Because you know you focus more
on the work you focus more on the character rather than selling yourself constantly to these people.
Don’t try to be something you’re not. Live your truth ALWAYS.
That doesn’t mean you can’t or shouldn’t change, but that when you do
is because you really thought about it and realized it was the best course of action.
When you conform to people’s expectations you never stand out.
And if you want the opportunity to achieve your highest potential you have to STAND OUT.
You have to keep your faith in yourself and in what you have.
Failure and rejection don’t mean you’re not worth it. Sometimes they only mean there’s
something you need to do to become better. Embrace failure and learn from it. Learn
what you need to do, and do it. Soon the opportunities will arise.
Leonardo DiCaprio: I mean, I never went to a formal acting… It was only until really The
Aviator that I started working with Larry Moss. It was the first film that I produced, that I
had thought of, it was sort of my concept. And I felt like I needed to brush up on my technique.
So that's when I really started doing formal training. And it was an amazing experience with
him. I mean, it was more than learning how to be a better actor. He was a life coach. It was like,
he's like, the first day, he was like, "All right, you want to go over this stuff?" I'm,
like, "Yeah, yeah, let's do it." And he's like, "Okay, you're Howard Hughes, you're in your plane,
this is your cocoon, this is your sanctuary. Show me how you fly a plane." I'm like, "Well,
I haven't really.” He's like, "Come on. Basically, sit in that chair and do it for me right now." I'm
like, "Well, I haven't quite prepared." He's like, "Don't you pull that shit with me." He's like,
"You get in that God damn cockpit right now and you show me who the hell Howard
Hughes is. You do it in front of me right now." I'm like, "Okay, shit."
I mean, and from there, we started working
on breaking down the script in a way that I'd never had before.
Interviewer: I have to say I'm impressed because most people don't get an Oscar nomination and have
many hit films behind them and then choose to go see an acting coach.
Leonardo DiCaprio: I think everyone can always brush up on their technique. It is,
you know, what we do takes a lot of research. I mean, if you really want to inhabit a role,
it takes a lot of work and training and I think it's incredibly important to constantly, no matter
how successful you are, it's incredibly important.
Voice over: ALWAYS improve.
ALWAYS strive to become better. ALWAYS aim for the next level.
Success is not a finite thing that when you reach it is the end of the line.
SUCCESS IS INFINITE. There’s always more to it.
You got what you wanted? Now there is something else you want.
Did you become the best at something? There is something else you can master.
Never stop learning. And you will never stop succeeding.
Leonardo DiCaprio: I've always been fascinated by, you know, this world that we live in and
how destructive we are to it. And as soon as I, you know, really became an actor that's been,
you know, a parallel passion of mine, is trying to bring attention to
some incredibly important issues. I think that really so little goes to protecting our planet.
When you think of all of philanthropy, only 2% of philanthropy and giving goes towards the biggest
life-sustaining force that we have and that's our planet. And we're systematically polluting it,
we're chopping down rainforests, destroying coral reef systems, animals, very unique creatures that
have taken hundreds of millions of years to evolve are becoming extinct. And it's pretty horrific
what we're doing. So you know, I've devoted a lot of time away from acting to not only try to
bring attention to it too but to bring much-needed funding to a lot of these issues.
Leonardo DiCaprio: So I feel like I could make a good contribution too. But I,
more than anything I would really love to get a lot of,
you know, the wealthiest people on earth to focus on these issues because it's becoming pretty dire.
Success gives people power. The power to do great things and to call attention to important issues.
We all have things we care deeply about, and as human beings,
it is our duty to defend the things we love.
We must care for the planet, we must care for other people, we must care for ourselves.
There probably is something that touches you deeply when you hear about it. Recognize it.
Find a cause to fight for and give back to the world.
That is the greatest impact we can have. And it is the best way to give thanks to existence.
Give back to the world and you will feel like you’re the richest you’ve ever been.