Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio

Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio

Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio, childhood nickname LeoLenny D, is one of the few celebrity actors who had a big change in their film careers. The 45-year-old was born in 1974, 11 November in Los Angeles, California (Biography, 2019). Leonardo’s career started in 1985 when he featured as a member of the supporting cast in the sitcom Growing Pains. Soon after, he appeared in low budget movies such as Critters 3 (1991). The minor appearances set the stage from which he became a major teen actor in the 1960s. He played major roles in the movies Romeo and Juliet (1996) and the Titanic (1997). These two films by directors Christopher Nolan and Martin Scorsese won him accolades and gave him international recognition as an important figure in Hollywood (IMDB, 2019). According to Dyer (1998), “Stars are images in media texts”. They are also “secure products of Hollywood” (Egan and Thomas, 2013). In this essay, I will analyse Leonardo DiCaprio’s film stardom image through his movies posters over time, the roles that he mostly plays, and his concern for the environment, climate change, and politics.

There is an element to DiCaprio’s image, his characteristic blonde hair, which depicted him as a ‘golden boy’. As Dyer (2004) observed, his ‘fair, American hair’ is ‘golden’ (p.128).The stardom of his image was accentuated by the fact that he was born in California (Wright, 2015). The fun-filled Californian lifestyle complemented the image DiCaprio portrayed (Wright, 2015). His romantic and sexy demeanour also augured well with his star image for the roles he played (Wright, 2015). Not many Hollywood stars of his stature and who have been labelled ‘golden’ and romantic can advance a political agenda as effectively as DiCaprio (Wright, 2015). In this essay, I will analyse Leonardo DiCaprio’s film stardom image through his movies posters and the roles that he mostly plays, and his care for the environment and the climate change.

Fame has been a part of DiCaprio’s family from the start since both his parents are individually well-accomplished. He is an only child of famous comic book artist George DiCaprio and former actress and producer Irmelin DiCaprio. More specifically, George DiCaprio was an art distributer of comic books. His father is of German and Italian ancestry and his mother is of German descent (Biography, 2019). His parents recognized his talents while he was relatively young. They signed him up with a talent agent who wanted to change Leonardo’s name to “Lenny Williams” as a stage name (IMDB, 2019). DiCaprio started showing in a number of commercials and educational programs on TV. Producers were attracted to his talent, and they started to cast him for small roles such as in the film Roseanne (1988) and New Lassie (1989). Thereafter, he participated in many other movies that were small screen, until he was offered a role in the film Growing Pains (1985). Although, it was only a short stint, people started to recognize him. The film opened up opportunities for him as he could now audition for bigger roles than those he had been previously featured on. They were roles to test and prove his acting prowess (IMDB, 2019).

Leonardo DiCaprio played diverse roles in the 1990s. The role he played on What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (1993) advanced his reputation as an actor, but not as much as Romeo and Juliet (1996). In this big screen movie, Leonardo played Romeo Montague and he was thrust into a legend status and a true film star. In the year that followed, Leonardo then was starred in the Titanic (1997). Titanic became the highest earning movie of all time and transformed Leonardo’s image from ‘teen star’ to ‘heartthrob’ (IMDB, 2019). After this breakthrough though, he kept a low profile for many years because he was still operating on a low budget. Costs of production, marketing and advertising ranged between $26.8 Million and $70.8 Million in the period 1990-2007 (MacDonald, 2013, p.96). Since Leonardo still needed finances for upkeep and appearances, he took a role resembling those he had become known for, in the low budget film The Man in the Iron Mask (1998). Similarly, he took roles in the films The Great Gatsby (2013) and The Wolf of Wall Street (2013).

Pictorial Representation – Nature of DiCaprio’s Star Image

Romeo and Juliet (1996) Titanic (1997) Great Gatsby (2013)

Wolf of Wall Street(2013)

The roles Leonardo has played have undergone metamorphosis over time. The transformation in film roles seemed like a conscious effort towards changing the perception the world had of him based on his previous characters. Dyer (1998) analysed his poster image with regard to body movement, posture, gestures, voice intonation, and Facial Expression (p.134). In Romeo and Juliet (1996), he is depicted as a gentleman and hero; a young innocent teen that in search of love. This modern Shakespeare version has a 1960’s feel and follows the romantic image Leonardo had come to be associated with. In the Titanic (1997), his gentleman’s demeanour is maintained. Leonard appears more mature than in the previous film and does a better job also in playing his character.

Six years later in The Great Gatsby (2013), his poster image shows continuity in playing a character required to be gentlemanly. He is, however, casted as being older, financially affluent, and in a position of power. A slight diversion, however, occurs from his ‘good man’ demeanour. From the poster, his facial expressions, outfit, and body pose challenge the innocent Hollywood image that people had of him. In this film, his actions that may otherwise be labelled as ‘bad’ are justified by his experiences. He is a character who has been toughened by situations that required him to do ‘bad things’. The diversion from his previous roles increases when he plays a rich and careless 22-year-old man solely focussed on making illegal money and using women for pleasure. He does not have any love interest, and this is a direct contrast to “Romeo Montague” who would have committed suicide to be with the woman he loved in death if not in life.

Features of contemporary stardom

Starting from the 2000s, various entertainment celebrities have taken increasingly active roles in socio-political matters. Some Hollywood stars have taken prominent roles in the cultural politics of climate change and issues that are of significance to their audiences. Stars’ involvement varies from giving speeches at the UN climate conferences to communicating with their fans through social media. Some have produced and appeared in documentaries on climate change thus giving a personal touch and advancing the climate change agenda to broader audience (Doyle and Farrelland Goodman, 2017).

Speech at the United Nations climate summit 2014

Figure (5)

Although majority of celebrities only focus on developing their acting careers, DiCaprio has slowly become reckoned as an environmentalist. He is now involved and devoted in many environmental issues. His devotion has motivated him to make three documentary films: The 22th hour (2007), Before the Flood (2016), and more recently Ice on Fire (2019) shedding light on state of the natural environment. He has also given many great speeches about the climate change (Miller, 2017, p.2).

Political Economy of Stardom

According to Gunter (2014) most trusted and liked celebrities often concentrate on enhancing their business (p.23). Lately however, an increasing number of celebrities are playing a growing role in social, political, and environmental issues. Their changing role in matters of public interest has been made possible by the evolution of technology. It is part of an emerging strategy for political advocacy spawned by the difficulty of making news. Though such acts do not make it to mainstream news, celebrity advocacy does not go unnoticed and millions of Americans encounter celebrity causes as a result” (Thrall et al., 2008,p.381). Contemporary celebrities are making attempts to shape how his audiences and the public feels about climate change to get people to act and change their behaviours (Yates and Hill, 2018)

Celebrities offer “valuable sources of information about commodities, services, and issues” (Gunter 2014, p. xii-xiii). They also shape public opinion and influence behaviour patterns in the society. Although DiCaprio is not a politician, he is a well-known celebrity whose aim of making a statement concerning environmental conservation has become widely recognized (Miller, 2017, p.2). With his climate change goal, he has made several substantial donations towards environment-based causes. In 2010, he donated $1,000,000 to the earth relief efforts, and $1,000,000 to the wildlife conservation society (IMDB, 2019). In addition to making significant donations, DiCaprio has a foundation website – The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation – aimed at saving the natural environment; particularly, wildlife conservation. DiCaprio has made generous contributions to help over 200 projects and approximately 132 organizations in more than 50 countries around the world (Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, 2019).

Hollywood Forms of Starmaking

For an actor to be viewed and accepted as a star, they have to attain an ideological standard that boosts them to that level. According to Dyer (1979), an ideology is a “set of ideas and demonstrations wherein communities communally have sense of the society and the world. Furthermore, ideologies are the relations that are developed to a distinct circumstance of the human’s life. In which it means that the knowledge is what made these circumstances. Even though this knowledge is not guaranteed to be true. Certainly ideology is defined as partial and limited and there is no other way to think outside of the ideology” (Dyer, 1979, p.2). To exemplify the extent of his influence, DiCaprio was requested to present a speech on 22nd April, 2014 in Paris at the Signature ceremony opening, which focussed on how leader can make changes (Prihandini and Putra, 2019, p.41).

Measure of DiCaprio’s Stardom

Having explored the ideological and political aspects of the making of a Hollywood star, it is imperative to evaluate how DiCaprio fits into the ‘star’ category. Leonardo DiCaprio has influence in the entertainment world as well as in the “real world”. In addition to having a decorated acting career, he has expressed interest in politics and climate change. He uses his celebrity status to “attract” political leaders and initiate political discourse. Furthermore, he uses his persona to benefit him, by drawing comparison on perspectives towards solving environmental challenges between politicians and the characters he has played.

In the history of film studies, the concept and term ‘star’ refers to a representative interaction between on-screen and off-screen personas (Holmes and Redmond, 2010, p.1-10). Celebrity status has diverse connotations. Leonardo’s establishment is a combination of stellar actor, an entertainment icon, and motivated environmentalist (Miller, 2017, p.10). Leonardo was introduced to the political sphere as a messenger for peace (Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation 2019). His address to leaders, governors and highly educated people persuading them to actively participate in the climate change issue (Miller, 2017, p.8) boosted his image away from on-screen performances. DiCaprio confirmed Markham’s sentiments that “celebrities have the power to rally or shame those in power to produce change”. DiCaprio is an example of a Hollywood star rallying for positive change in the world.

Looking into Leonardo’s social media activity, it is evident that he uses his social influence to encourage people to help in saving the environment. He uses multiple social media accounts: Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. On Instagram, his posts revolve around climate change and the environmental horrors being experienced in the present-day world. He posts on events, speeches and the others forums on environment conservation (Instagram, 2019).His intelligent protest on social media motivate his followers to combat climate change and environmental degradation.

In conclusion, Leonardo has grown as an entertainment figure over the years. His acting skills improved and developed as described above. As he developed, his character role in several movies also changed as evidenced by the body movement, body posture, gestures, voice and facial expressions (Dyer, 1998, p.134). DiCaprio has now developed an interest in political talk surrounding salvaging the environmental and mitigating harmful effects of climate change. He owns the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, a charity foundation website which has information on his work regarding climate change and wildlife. It is also a site that allows people to make donations towards the agenda. Leonardo has kept his confident persona giving speeches before world leaders, United States governors, and highly educated individuals to promote conscious efforts towards salvaging the environment. He has also produced three documentaries on climate change. Dyers (2004), argues that the stardom of DiCaprio’s image is derived from his being perceived as a ‘golden boy’. However, it was not smooth-sailing for the actor. His acting career was challenged at the start, but he finally he made it to the top by working hard, developing his image on similar roles at first, and thereafter on diverse roles.