Leonardo DiCaprio

A thoughtful and driven actor, Leonardo DiCaprio has portrayed a wide range of deeply felt characters wrestling with moral ambivalence and inward reflection. But he could have had it so easy. After early success as Robert De Niro's troubled son in This Boy's Life and as Johnny Depp's mentally handicapped brother in What's Eating Gilbert Grape, DiCaprio found his breakout role in the 1997 phenomenon Titanic, achieving a level of supernova stardom that he could have coasted on for years. However, DiCaprio continued to shy away from easy opportunities that traded on his movie-star appeal. Many of his characters, from the drug-addicted writer in The Basketball Diaries to the unmoored suburbanite in Revolutionary Road, exist in a helpless downward spiral of tragic circumstances and destructive impulses. The breezy exception that proves the rule is his charming role as a lonely and seemingly carefree teenage con man in Catch Me If You Can. Since forming a close relationship with Martin Scorsese in 2002's Gangs of New York, DiCaprio has further delved into psychologically murky characters in a number of the famed director's latter-day films, including The Departed and Shutter Island. With his role as a thief of the subconscious in Christopher Nolan's Inception, DiCaprio continued his exploration of the twisted dreams of men.