Leonardo DiCaprio has been critically lauded and relentlessly gossiped about ever since
he broke into Hollywood back in the '90s, yet curiously little is actually known about
this legendary actor and environmentalist.
Well, fear not.
From his controversial connections to his private island to his return ticket to space,
here's the untold truth of Leo himself.
Leonardo DiCaprio is well-known to be a smoker, which isn't a huge surprise considering he's
played so many roles onscreen over the years where he expertly, if not glamorously, smokes
cigarettes.
But it's not just in the movies: Paparazzi photos over the years have shown the actor
smoking in real life, proving that this one particular habit remains once the cameras
stop rolling.
Around 2010, DiCaprio admitted he tried to quit smoking by using a nicotine patch, but
with no success, telling Parade:
"I usually don't [remember my dreams].
But when I used a nicotine patch when I was trying to quit smoking, I did have blood curdling
nightmares of mass murders, and I woke up in the middle of the night and had to take
the patches off."
Having been given the pretty easy choice between bloodcurdling nightmares and actual real-life
health problems, however, the star has apparently decided to dial back on his habit.
These days, he's traded his regular cigarettes for electronic ones, hitting his vape pen
publicly without shame.
He's been seen vaping at various Hollywood events, and once even took a puff during an
interview in 2017 promoting The Revenant.
Leonardo DiCaprio is almost as renowned an environmentalist as he is an actor, but he
has also faced criticism for his considerable carbon footprint.
Why?
Because he's been spotted using private jets and yachts, which aren't exactly the most
fuel-efficient or eco-friendly ways to travel.
For instance, Leo reportedly rented a massive yacht to celebrate the 2014 World Cup in Brazil,
one owned by an Abu Dhabi sheikh with huge oil interests, no less.
Not only that, but he also once flew on a private jet from Cannes to NYC to accept an
environmental award, and then back to Cannes the next day.
A source said he simply "hitched a ride" on someone else's plane, reasoning that he couldn't
have gone to both events without using the jets.
Yet critics nonetheless wondered: Don't we all have to make sacrifices if we want to
save the world?
Still, DiCaprio claims to be doing what he can to protect Mother Earth.
In 2010, he told Parade:
"I've been driving a hybrid car for years now.
My house is built green with solar panels.
I admit I don't walk to work and I don't have a compost pile, but I am trying to set an
example."
True to his word, he was photographed driving a Volvo hybrid SUV in 2019 and appears to
have started flying commercial, too.
"The show goes on!"
One thing that appears to have remained a constant in DiCaprio's life is his connection
with his friends.
DiCaprio has had the same steady inner circle of pals since he was a kid growing up in Hollywood.
He met fellow actor Tobey Maguire more than 30 years ago when he was just 12 years old
and they were both child actors in Los Angeles.
The two were often photographed together partying in the '90s, along with actor buddies Kevin
Connolly and Lukas Haas.
The guys were seen together so much that, in 1998, a NY Magazine writer once gave them
a fairly questionable nickname, one which Connolly later vehemently denounced as being
a totally inaccurate portrayal of their friendship.
"My hand on the Bible, I swear to you, never, ever, ever, in any capacity, I've never, myself
or any of our friends, ever referred to ourselves as the P---y Posse."
Whatever you want to call them, the guys have remained close.
DiCaprio was a pallbearer at Connolly's mother's funeral, showed up to watch Maguire's daughter
perform in a school play, and is often spotted joking around with Haas on the streets of
New York.
When the then-prime minister of Russia Vladmir Putin hosted a summit in St. Petersburg to
discuss saving the world's endangered tigers, he summoned leaders from 13 countries, representatives
of a number of wildlife organizations, and Leonardo DiCaprio.
While Leo faced significant delays in his trip to the Russian city, Putin nonetheless
called him a "real man" and praised him for his perseverance.
At the time, he told DiCaprio:
"I would like to thank you for coming despite all the obstacles.
A person with less stable nerves could have decided against coming, could have read it
as a sign that it was not worth going."
DiCaprio reportedly revealed to Putin that he is part Russian and always wanted to take
his grandmother to St. Petersburg.
Putin reportedly assured the actor that St. Petersburg would make him proud of his Russian
roots.
After the friendly exchange, DiCaprio reportedly told a German newspaper that he'd "love to
play" Putin on-screen, saying he found the man, in his words, "very, very, very interesting."
However, Leo also made sure to carefully define his relationship with the highly controversial
leader.
He told Germany's Welt am Sonntag newspaper:
"My foundation has provided financial support for several projects for the protection of
these big cats.
Putin and I talked only about the protection of these magnificent animals, not politics."
DiCaprio has also gotten buddy-buddy with other world leaders over the years, mostly
due to his environmental work.
In the past, he's managed to score meetings with both President Barack Obama and Pope
Francis to discuss climate change.
Obama once invited DiCaprio to the White House's South by South Lawn festival and allowed the
actor to interview him.
When Leo asked Obama what "terrified" him about climate change, the president painted
a frightening picture of the world's future.
He explained:
"A huge portion of the world's population lives near oceans.
If they start moving, then you start seeing scarce resources [becoming] the subject of
competition between populations.
This is the reason why the Pentagon has said this is a national security issue.
This isn't just an environmental issue."
When DiCaprio arrived at his private meeting with the Pope, the actor graciously kissed
the supreme pontiff's hand and apparently spoke to him in "perfect Italian."
The two reportedly spoke about environmental issues and exchanged heartfelt gifts.
As DiCaprio departed, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church asked the actor to pray for
him.
Just like with many other things in his life, Leonardo DiCaprio apparently knows what exactly
what he wants when it comes to vacationing.
He's been known to take a number of different girlfriends to the exact same place, Marlon
Brando's private island of Tetiaroa.
He reportedly took ex-girlfriend Nina Agdal there in 2016, only to return in 2018 with
another model, this time main squeeze Camila Morrone.
A source also claimed he brought models Toni Garrn and Kelly Rohrbach there.
The island, which runs about $4,800 a night for a two-bedroom villa, is an eco-friendly
resort that uses solar energy and "seawater air conditioning," according to Page Six.
Since Leo goes back there so often, it's clear he feels a genuine connection with the island
of Tetiaroa, so much so, in fact, that he reportedly recommended it to President Obama
as a vacation getaway.
According to Town & Country, Obama said:
"If Leo [DiCaprio] recommends a place, I listen.
And if Leo has been able to come here on several different occasions with different girls and
not a single photo has come out, that's where I need to go."
That's not the end of DiCaprio's glamorous island life.
In 2015, DiCaprio reportedly bought his own island off the coast of Belize for about $1.75
million.
Known as Blackadore Caye, the star is said to be building an eco-resort of his own on
the island, saying he hopes it will serve as a stellar example of green living.
He told The New York Times:
"My goal was always the fact that I wanted to create something not just environmental,
but restorative.
A showcase for what is possible."
Being the passionate environmentalist that he is, it appears that DiCaprio is pulling
out all the stops for his Blackadore Caye resort.
A business partner said the resort will have "zero impact" on the Earth and will actually
make the island's environment "better than before."
Plans reportedly include a manatee conservation area, a plantation of mangrove trees to replace
invasive species, and a number of villas resting above artificial reefs and fish shelters.
As for the human guests, they'll reportedly enjoy vitamin C-infused showers, 24-hour circadian
LED lighting to promote restorative sleep, and state-of-the-art air and water purification
systems.
The resort is reportedly scheduled to open in 2020.
Apparently, the best part about being Leonardo DiCaprio is that, when it comes to your dreams,
the sky is very much not the limit.
When Richard Branson's space tourism company, Virgin Galactic, started selling tickets to
outer space for $250,000 a pop, DiCaprio made sure to secure his spot.
And the Oscar-winner seems to have inspired others to follow his lead.
Russian businessman Vasily Klyukin reportedly ponied up $1.5 million to get a seat on DiCaprio's
space flight, and when it eventually happens, the two will join an elite group of just 500
people who have ever been to outer space.
One person isn't so taken with the idea, however.
During their South by South Lawn panel on climate change, Dr. Katherine Hayhoe suggested
she thought anyone who'd sign up for a trip to Mars would be crazy, before DiCaprio admitted
he had done just that.
President Obama was quick to jump in.
"No, no, he is.
I think he'll acknowledge he's crazy."
While he's been known to smoke cigarettes, and doesn't shy away from a drink or two,
DiCaprio says that he's never experimented with hard drugs, though the characters he
plays often have.
He's all too familiar with what they can do to people.
In 2014, he told The Los Angeles Times:
"I saw this stuff literally every day when I was 3 or 4 years old, so Hollywood was a
walk in the park for me…I'd go to parties and it was there and, yeah, there's that temptation.
Hollywood is a very volatile place where artists come in and they essentially say they want
to belong.
It's incredibly vulnerable to be an actor and also get criticism at a young age when
you're formulating who you are.
We've seen a lot of people fall victim to that, and it's very unfortunate."
Having been a certified movie star since the '90s, Leonardo DiCaprio is no stranger to
the "celebrity surveillance state" that is modern media.
Now that everyone carries a camera and paparazzi have telephoto lenses, there are few places
for a star like Leo to hide, but contrary to what you may think, DiCaprio says he still
goes out whenever he wants.
He told Esquire:
"People are always like, 'It must be so hard for you, not to be able to leave your house.'
I'm like, 'No, I go where I want and do whatever I want all the time,'…You have the feeling
that they want to protect you from what they imagine your life to be like."
And it's true, too.
Leo is one of those famous folks who often go out sporting various disguises, usually
some combination of hats, sunglasses, and hoodies.
His low-profile has also helped preserve an air of mystery around the actor, who's been
described as one of the last "real" movie stars, a celebrity who makes quality films
but about whom little is known.
Some say his choices have helped him save his sanity.
As Great Gatsby director Baz Luhrmann once told Esquire:
"Nobody knows the kind of fame that Leonardo knows, and it's far more common for people
to become deranged by it.
It's generally quite toxic.
But somehow it hasn't been toxic for Leonardo.
He's been very good at making choices for his self-preservation."
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