Stunning girlfriends, awards & a £230m fortune but, as he turns 50, there’s a role Leonardo DiCaprio hasn’t given up on
AS one of Hollywood’s most successful leading men, Leonardo DiCaprio has a lot to celebrate when he turns 50 this month.
The Oscar-winning actor has amassed a personal fortune of £230million, a dizzying collection of awards and dated some of the world’s most beautiful women.
As he approaches his half-century on November 11, one thing fame has not bought him is lasting love.
But the Titanic star says that despite never finding his soulmate, he has not given up on becoming a dad.
He said: “I’m sure some people would look at me and my life and say it’s not normal and other people might say it is. I don’t know.”
But when asked if despite his age, becoming a dad is still on the cards for him, he added: “I am sure it will be — but it’s true I am not getting any younger.”
Leo is currently dating Italian fashion model Vittoria Ceretti, who at 26 is almost half his age. And, unbelievably, she is one of the oldest women he has ever dated.
‘Strive to be the best’
They met at the 2023 premiere for his movie Killers Of The Flower Moon during the Cannes Film Festival and have been inseparable ever since.
The pair were spotted last year in Milan alongside Leo’s mum, Irmelin Indenbirken, 81, celebrating the actor’s 49th birthday in LA and dancing at a Rolling Stones concert in Las Vegas.
But with a reputation as one of the world’s most eligible bachelors, many wonder if Leo will ever settle down.
A Hollywood source told The Sun on Sunday: “Leonardo’s one true love is acting. Everything else, including relationships, comes second to that.
“When shooting a movie he is totally immersed in his roles, which is what makes him so successful.
“But it’s taken a toll on his love life. He picks younger women to delay any personal complications in his life.
“It enables him to concentrate on his work because they’re less into settling down and happy to go along for the ride.
“He is like the Peter Pan of Hollywood — dating younger women, partying, going on holiday on his super yacht. He really is living the dream. It’s a pattern.
“But 50 is a big deal and I think he may stop, evaluate and make some changes. He’s a great guy who has a lot to give to a relationship and would make a brilliant dad. Maybe he could realise that work and movies are not actually everything.”
Leo was once reported as saying he would never date a woman over the age of 25.
Past girlfriends have included supermodel Gisele Bundchen, 44, who he dated for five years from when she was 20, Israeli model Bar Refaeli, 39, for five years from 2005 when she was also 20, and actress Blake Lively, 37, in 2011 when she was 24.
More recently he had a romance with US model Camila Morrone, 27, which started when she was 21 and ended in 2022.
He has also been linked with models and actresses including Bridget Hall, 46, Eva Herzigova, 51, Kristen Zang, 50, Erin Heatherton, 35, Virginie Ledoyen, 47, and Gigi Hadid, 29.
I strive to be the best actor I can be and whether I have achieved that is always up to the audience and critics to decide
Leonardo DiCaprio
But Leo does not care how people view his love life or the scrutiny he faces, saying: “I’m quite used to that kind of stuff, I don’t find it hard at all. Am I a nice boy? I suppose that is subject to interpretation.
“The truth is I remember saying as a very young kid, ‘I wanna become an actor’. I just said to myself, ‘One day I’ll hopefully try to do something as good as these great heroes that I want to emulate’.”
Talking to Australia’s 60 Minutes show about the importance of his work, he added: “I strive to be the best actor I can be and whether I have achieved that is always up to the audience and critics to decide.
“I don’t have any power over that and that’s always the one thing about making movies that’s both frightening and exhilarating.
“You can go into it with the best possible intent, work as hard as you possibly can and people for whatever reason may just disconnect with the movie and you are powerless to that, you really are.
“All you can do is really show up on set and work as hard as you possibly can, and that I can say I do.”
Growing up in Los Angeles, Leo knew from a young age he wanted to be an actor and scored a string of commercials when he was a kid.
He learned the ropes on US TV shows including sitcoms Parenthood and Growing Pain. But it was the role of Jack Dawson alongside Kate Winslet on Titanic that made him a global superstar.
When released in 1997, it was the most expensive film ever and has since grossed more than £1.6billion.
In subsequent years he has gone on to play an impressive list of roles from heart-throb to villain in films including The Aviator, Blood Diamond, Romeo And Juliet, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, The Wolf Of Wall Street, The Great Gatsby and The Departed.
He has been nominated for seven Oscars and he finally won Best Actor in 2016 for Western action drama The Revenant.
Even after starring in 37 movies, Leo’s love for his job remains as strong as ever.
I look at being an actor as an incredible opportunity. I think that it’s almost like winning the lottery in a lot of ways
Leonardo DiCaprio
He told 60 Minutes in 2013: “I look at being an actor as an incredible opportunity.
“I think that it’s almost like winning the lottery in a lot of ways.”
But off-screen, Leo believes his mission is to live the most interesting life he can.
Reflecting on his life, he said: “I’ve been very lucky to have achieved a lot of the things that I dreamt of achieving as a young man.
“But at the end of the day — and I truly believe this — it is not about achieving great wealth or success, because they don’t bring happiness ultimately. They really don’t.
“What matters is whether or not you’ve fulfilled the idea of having led an interesting life, whether you’ve contributed in some way to the world around you.”
As well as acting, he is passionate about environmental issues and has even set up non-profit organisation The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation.
In his spare time, he loves playing pickleball, visiting art galleries and making pottery.
With such a busy life, it is perhaps no surprise he has yet to find time to start a family and settle down.
Behavioural psychologist Jo Hemmings reckons his lack of commitment in his love life is less about his life’s work and more about a fear of getting old.
She said: “Middle-aged guys date younger women because it makes them feel good, feeds their ego and holds off their fear of the ageing process.
“Leo was an only child of divorced parents who stayed close to each other in order to bring him up. He was probably over-indulged.
Leo was an only child of divorced parents who stayed close to each other in order to bring him up. He was probably over-indulged
Jo Hemmings
“This, combined with the fact he doesn’t have any children of his own, has enabled him to extend his youthful behaviour for as long as possible and spilled into his dating.
“He has a seemingly carefree approach to life. Most of his contemporaries are settled down and raising children, so party- loving Leo is bound to mix with younger women.
“He is having a good time but there is the danger of him becoming addicted to his lavish, carefree lifestyle and cutting a rather more tragic figure if still dating significantly younger women in ten years’ time.
“There is a pattern of avoidance going on here too — of reality, getting older, intimacy, facing mortality and taking responsibility. The list goes on.”
And as Leo approaches his 50th, finding a wife still seems to be the last thing on his mind as all he really wants is to carry on making films.
When asked of his dreams for the future, Leo, who will star in Martin Scorsese’s new movie The Wager, said: “You know what? Just one more movie.”