Image via Complex Original
The Oscar-nominated The Wolf of Wall Street, directed by the great Martin Scorsese, is, of course, about the lavish, drug-riddled, sex-fueled life of financial swindler Jordan Belfort. The film came out two months ago and we’re still high from it, mostly because of Leonardo DiCaprio's towering performance. It's the best acting he's ever done, and tomorrow, at the 86th Academy Awards, he might win his first-ever Oscar for it.
Watching DiCaprio contort himself throughout The Wolf of Wall Street's show-stopping "cerebral palsy phase" drug sequence is revelatory. Who knew he could go to such body-bending lengths? Are you ready for more eye-opening facts about Leo, too? You're in luck—here are 30 things you didn’t know about Leonardo DiCaprio.
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At the tender age of five, Leo appeared on his favorite TV show Romper Room and Friends and was nearly thrown off for misbehaving.
[via Extra]
When he was younger he appeared in commercials for Bubble Yum gum and Fred Meyer, a clothing store.
[via Adbranch]
While filming Django Unchained, Leo accidentally cut his hand when he slammed it on a table. Without breaking character or hesitating, he used it in the scene, wiping the blood over Kerry Washington's face to make for an even more terrifying and memorable moment.
[via Hollyscoop]
His favorite on-screen performance is by Gena Rowlands in A Women Under the Influence
[via Hollyscoop]
He sells his own special blend of directly sourced, sustainable coffee. All proceeds go to saving endangered jaguars. (Yes, jaguars.)
[via Hollyscoop]
He was part of a group of partiers called the "Pussy Posse," which included Tobey Maguire and David Blaine in the '90s.
[via Hollyscoop]
He's a decorated breakdancer. When he was a kid, he won an actual award in Germany for his pop-locking skills.
[via Hollyscoop]
He mentioned on The Ellen Show that during The Wolf of Wall Street's Quaalude sequence, it took them 70 takes just to get the ham to stick to his face. This was achieved by flicking the ham off of a spoon and using K-Y jelly.
[via College Times]
During the kissing scene between DiCaprio and Joanna Lumley, Leonardo was so nervous that the scene required a reported 27 takes to get it right.
[via College Times]
In March of 1998 he sued Playgirl after learning about the magazine's plans to publish nude pictures of him.
[via IMDB]
Leo and the rest of The Wolf of Wall Street's cast crushed B vitamins for scenes involving cocaine. Although their noses felt uncomfortable, it gave them more energy to perform their scenes.
[via College Times]
When Kate Winslet found out she had to go topless in Titanic, she flashed the young Leo to prepare him for what he was going to encounter later.
[via MSN]
Leo recently revealed that he'd had a close encounter of the shark kind. While shooting the 2006 film Blood Diamond, Dhe was shark-watching in a "protective" cage when a Great White managed to get in there with him. "It was absolutely terrifying," he says.
[via The Loop]
In 2005 he paid $1.75 million for Blackadore Caye, a 104-acre island off the coast of Belize. His plan is to develop an eco-friendly resort with renewable energy sources.
[via IMDB]
As a kid, he was a contestant on a game show called Fun House. Using only his teeth, he had to catch fish in a small pool.
[via IMDB]
He's a huge fan of Jersey Shore.
[via Betty Confidential]
He suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder.
[via Betty Confidential]
Leo loves to travel and at one point considered being a travel agent. "I remember, at one stage, wanting to be a travel agent so I could get out in the world," he says. "I wanted to be able to get free trips." And he's still excited to explore new places. "I would never throw away my passport," says Leo. "I love travel and it's like having a key to the rest of the world."
[via Betty Confidential]
DiCaprio first moved out of his mom's house a month before Titanic was released. He was 23 at the time.
[via MTV]
DiCaprio spent "many months" with the real Jordan Belfort in preparation for his Wolf role. He even videotaped Belfort impersonating what it was like to be on those extra-strong lemon Quaaludes.
[via Yahoo]
He is an ardent environmentalist. He founded the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation to support sustainability efforts, is a boardmember of the Natural Resources Defense Council and Global Green USA, and produced the climate change documentary The 11th Hour.
[via Moviefone]
As a budding teen actor, he was told by an agent to change his name to Lenny Williams for fear that his real name sounded too "ethnic." Clearly, he declined.
[via Moviefone]
He was offered the role of Dirk Diggler in Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights but opted for Titanic instead.
[via Moviefone]
As the story goes, during the time of Leo's mother's pregnancy, she was standing in front of a Leonardo da Vinci painting the first time she felt a kick in her stomach.
[via Moviefone]