Hes playing the role of the year in the film of the year: Leonardo DiCaprio is Jay Gatsby in Baz Luhrmanns hotly-anticipated remake of F. Scott Fitzgeralds classic American novel.
Leos latest incarnation inspired us to look back into the DiCaprio archive and choose our favourite of his roles through the ages. It was a hard job, but someone had to do it.
So
drumroll please: here is ELLEs top five Leo moments.
Titanic
Forget tired debates about the square footage of the raft. Leo died and millions wept (and thats not counting the cynics who pretended to be choking on a piece of popcorn to mask their emotion). Leo stole the show as cheeky, raffish artist Jack who won a ticket on the journey of a lifetime.
Blood Diamond
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From heartthrob to bad boy: Leo played Danny Archer, a diamond smuggler who got tangled up in the civil war in Sierra Leone. Like many of Leos roles, Danny treads the uncomfortable line between hero and villain - Leo navigated the tension perfectly.
Romeo + Juliet
The Great Gatsby isn't the first time Leo and Baz Luhrmann have worked together: the actor starred in Luhrmann's intoxicating postmodern rendering of Romeo + Juliet. Leo captured hearts as the anguished Romeo and impressed with his confidence expounding in iambic pentameter. Not just a pretty face this one (although it helped that he spent a lot of the film with his shirt wide open).
The Departed
Leo starred as Billy Costigan in Scorceses dark, moody mob thriller, The Departed. Set in Boston, its a complicated narrative of betrayal and hidden identity Leo was widely acclaimed for his portrayal of Billy and the film went on to win Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director in 2006.
Inception
From the mysterious beginning to ambiguous ending, Inception was a fascinating meditation on the nature of reality. Though personally we were very glad we had Leo playing conman with a heart, Dom Cobb with us to navigate the sometimes confusing plot.
