Leonardo DiCaprio on Private Life Philosophy, Career Mindset

Leonardo DiCaprio Reveals His “Philosophy” for Handling Life in the Public Eye

The public will have to catch Leonardo DiCaprio when they can.

Indeed, the Oscar winner explained that while he recognizes his status as a public figure, he certainly prefers to keep his off-camera life out of the spotlight as much as possible.

“It’s been a balance I’ve been managing my whole adult life,” Leonardo told Time in an interview published Dec. 8, “and still I’m not an expert. I think my simple philosophy is only get out there and do something when you have something to say, or you have something to show for it.”

He added, “Otherwise, just disappear as much as you possibly can.”

In fact, the One Battle After Another star—who celebrated his 51st birthday last month alongside girlfriend Vittoria Ceretti, 27, Jimmy Fallon and others—detailed how his limelight-avoidant mindset works in tandem with his public-facing career.

“I was like, ‘OK, how do I have a long career?’” he continued. “Because I love what I do, and I feel like the best way to have a long career is to get out of people’s face.”

And Leonardo’s focus on his career hasn’t just been a revelation in his adulthood. After all, he’s been passionate about being an actor since he was a pre-teen.

“I was the person telling my dad and my mom, ‘Get me to auditions! We need to do this! Try to pick me up from school at 4 o’clock!’” he explained, noting his dislike of grade school inspired his career choice. “I was like, ‘This is a bummer! I gotta start thinking about what I want to do for work immediately.’”

But while Leo is adamant about preserving his personal space, he has been open about how passing the milestone age of 50 has motivated him in both his private and professional life.

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“It creates a feeling like you have a desire to just be more honest and not waste your time,” he said in an August interview with Esquire. “I can only imagine how the next few decades are going to progress. I look at my mother, for example, and she just says exactly what she thinks and wastes no time. She spends no time trying to fake it.”

The Titanic actor added, “Being more upfront and risking having things fall apart or risk the disagreements or risk going your separate ways from any type of relationship in life—the personal, professional—it’s that you just don’t want to waste your time anymore. You have to just be much more upfront. It’s almost a responsibility because much more of your life is behind you than it is ahead of you.”

Though he avoids the spotlight these days, Leonardo has been starring on the big screen for more than three decades. Read on to look back at him through the years.

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1989

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1990

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1991

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1992

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1993

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1994