- 2000
Global Warning
An avid environmentalist, particularly concerned with global warming, DiCaprio chairs Earth Day 2000. He goes on to win a number of awards for environmental leadership and is often seen tooling around Hollywood in his hybrid Toyota Prius.
Rockin' Gisele's World!
DiCaprio frolics on the shores of Malibu with supermodel-of-the moment Gisele Bündchen. The two remain coy about their relationship, and eventually endure a rocky, five-plus-year, on-again, off-again relationship. The pair calls it quits (for good) in November 2005.
- 2002
Hiatus – Take 2
In a triumphant screen return, a grown-up DiCaprio stars in director Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York with Cameron Diaz and Catch Me If You Can with Tom Hanks and an up-and-coming Amy Adams. "I've been extremely careful about the work that I get involved in nowadays," he tells PEOPLE.
- 2004
Flying High
DiCaprio reunites with Scorsese in The Aviator, playing the handsome, wealthy, brilliant and mentally ill Howard Hughes. "He was one of the most iconic men the country has ever seen," DiCaprio tells PEOPLE. His work, in which he stars alongside Cate Blanchett and Kate Beckinsale, earns him an Oscar nod for Best Actor.
- 2006
No Longer Departed
The Departed stars DiCaprio in the hard-hitting role of an undercover cop. "I've gotten to this great place where I'm able to steer the course of my career," he tells PEOPLE. "This is my opportunity to try to emulate the heroes that I had as a young actor – Robert De Niro, Jack Nicholson, people like that. That's why I'm in hardcore work mode now." The work pays off when he's nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actor and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Diamonds and Gold
DiCaprio stars in Blood Diamond, for which he receives Golden Globe, SAG and Oscar nominations for Best Actor. His two Golden Globe nods in that category put him in competition with himself. Although he's dating model Bar Refaeli, he says there's only one woman he'd buy diamonds for…his mom.
- 2007
DiCaprio's 'Green' Crusade
Although DiCaprio loses the Best Actor Oscar, he makes history at the ceremony when he announces the show has gone "green." That night, former Vice President Al Gore's global warming film An Inconvenient Truth wins Best Documentary.
Continuing His Fight
After producing his own documentary 11th Hour, DiCaprio graces the "Green Issue" of Vanity Fair. That same month, his eco commitment (and stunning looks) lands him on PEOPLE's 100 Most Beautiful list and Time's 100 Most Influential People in the World list. Director Martin Scorsese writes in Time, "The 'kid' has grown up to be a man I'm proud to know and whom I feel lucky to count as a collaborator."
Photo Credits
BIOGRAPHY (top to bottom): ZASI/BAUER-GRIFFIN; RONNIE TAYLOR/WIREIMAGE; ANDREW COOPER/DREAMWORKS; MIRAMAX; ANDREW COOPER/WARNER BROS.; Splash News; Gary Hershorn/Reuters/Landov
- Name
- Leonardo DiCaprio
- Birth Date
- November 11, 1974
- Birth Place
- Hollywood, Calif.
- Heart Monitor
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Bar Refaeli, girlfriend, (2006 to present, on and off)
Gisele Bündchen, ex-girlfriend (2000 to 2005)
Kristin Zang, ex-girlfriend (1996 to 1997)
