It’s no secret that I’m not the biggest fan of Leonardo DiCaprio, and I’ve long referred to him as “the grumpy chihuahua” for reasons that I cannot ever remember; that is, besides the obvious. For the vast majority of his career, I’ve enjoyed Leo in a few choice roles (Romeo + Juliet, Catch Me If You Can, and The Basketball Diaries), but I honestly find most of his recent work (such as Inception) to be fairly overrated. Leo has made a name for himself as a diverse actor, but I observe him to be largely a one-note thespian, and I feel like if Martin Scorsese hadn’t taken Leo under his wing, then his acting career wouldn’t have remained nearly as elevated to this date. I’m also not terribly fond of the way Leo conducts himself in his personal life either, what with Pu**y Posse and an endless cache of Victoria’s Secret models under his belt.
However, I am going to give Leo a huge break from now on at least in regards to his acting — not that he’ll notice or care what I think of him, but his work as Calvin Candie in Django Unchained was just so over the top and deliciously malicious that I had to watch it more than once. The boy did good. At this moment in time though, Leo is ready for an indefinite vacation from working. Will you miss him?
This could be Leonardo DiCaprio’s last awards season for a while. The actor has announced he’s retiring from acting indefinitely. “I’m a little bit drained,” he told German newspaper Bild. “I am now going to take a long long break.”
After doing three films in two years – Django Unchained, The Great Gatsby and the recently-finished The Wolf of Wall Street – DiCaprio says, “I’m just worn out.”
Publicity tours for those films still loom, however, but DiCaprio, 38, has other plans for when his schedule slows down. “I would like to improve the world a bit,” he says. “I will fly around the world doing good for the environment.”
In the meantime, he’s living green at home. “My roof is covered with solar panels,” he revealed. “My car is electric. A normal person does not drive more than 50 kilometers a day. That can be done with a plug.”
[From Page Six]
This is just talk, right? For certain, Leo has led a very hectic year with three major roles in big-budget, blockbuster films. I’m not sure how long he’ll realistically be away when his IMDb profile reveals twenty-three projects in development, but we’ll see. In addition, you can bet that next time Marty Scorsese comes calling, Leo will dutifully quit his break in short order. Those two are thick as Hollywood thieves together.
Does anyone else find it slightly amusing that Leo plans on flying around the world and burning up a ton of carbon credits in order to help save the environment? I admire anyone who is devoted to such a cause, but there’s just so much work to be done at home that travelling the globe to do so seems a bit silly and self-defeating. But I guess it’s his thing.
Also, dude really needs to lay off on the self-tanning lotion.
Photos courtesy of WENN
Actually, yes. He may be a douche with women, but he is one hell of an actor.
^that.
Second that, sistas. Also, that German paper he reportedly said those things to is a tabloid, from what I remember. In other words, it’s highly unlikely this will happen. Or so I hope.
Who cares how annoying he is or how much tanning lotion he uses when he’s such a f**king brilliant actor?
agree!
I agree. No matter how he behaves in his personal life he’s still one of my favorite actors (see also: Christian Bale, Russel Crowe)
Being a douche in real life doesn’t have any impact on whether I like an actor or not.
I’ve been rooting for Leo to get an academy award forever,i think he deserved it more than the others,the guy can act in his sleep.His one good damn actor,i hate for him to get old and retire for good without getting one.I love him in Blood Diamond,Departed,Diango Unchained.
I agree! I LOVE him. He is my fav (closely followed by Tom Hardy). I hope it’s just a temporary hiatus and not a permanent thing. The world of movie making will suffer a great loss if he is gone 🙁
I do like Leo’s acting a lot. I loved The Departed and Blood Diamond. So, yeah I’d miss the bastard.
Really miffed he didn’t win Best Actor for Blood Diamond.
Is this his way of stomping his foot at the Academy? 🙂
Hope he isn’t away too long, as mentioned above, he’s a damn good actor. And I don’t think it’s worth reading into the ‘flying around the world’ and environment comment too much. Really, is he meant to get there by boat? Anyway, I think there are companies that run carbon-offsetting programmes or ‘plant a tree every time you fly’ things.
Oh don’t even get me started lol.
He deserved an oscar for Gilbert Grape. He was phenomenal in that movie.
The academy seems to enjoy snubbing him
I loved him in both of those. I always think he is underrated actually and should def have gotten a oscar for those films.
Amelia: My initial thoughts were he’s taking a little break as a way to stick it to the Academy. And I agree he was robbed for not winning best actor for Blood Diamond.
These days however I think the Oscars are nothing more than a silly popularity contest
I do wonder why he hasn’t been able to get recognition by the Academy. Actors have won for less! DiCaprio has had both critical & commercial hits… I’ve liked all his movies that I watched (The Aviator, The Departed, Gangs of New York, Shutter Island, Inception, Revolutionary Road…)
alons/Buckwild–I was just coming to say it.
I think his feelings are hurt, and he’s had enough snubs for awhile.
The main problem with the Academy is that they NEVER give an actor the award for the right performance. You might be have been the best role in a movie that is looked at as one of the best ever but if the Academy doesn’t think it’s “your time” you won’t win. So having passed someone over a bunch in their best work they’ll give it to them later in a lesser role because its that person’s time to win. Thus it becomes a cycle and keeps happening.
That’s so true!
Leo should have won for Gilbert Grape. And Joaquin Phoenix should have won for Walk The Line. He was so great in it. And what does the Academy? Gives Reese Witherspoon one. She’s also a great actress, but her performance in Walk The Line wasn’t that challenging…
He was so hot in The Departed.
Totally!
I think Departed was his best work of recent years.
Right! It was like watching teen Leo from Romeo + Juliet all over again.SO HOT!
LMAO @ “I will fly around the world doing good for the environment.”
That has GOT to be a joke, right??
+1, exactly, flying for protecting environment ???? . And no I won’t miss him, I don’t see in what he is an exceptional actor (and yes I saw gilbert grape, aviator and more) but not he has never managed to convince me
HA! It definitely reads as a joke. Hopefully he was just being a smart ass to a reporter or something? Otherwise thats a pretty big “Derp” moment Leo. Its ok, my heart will go on.
LOL! Maybe he’ll be flying on a solar- and pedal- powered little plane.
And no, I won’t miss him.
He can’t say what he really means: “I will fly around the world doing…models”.
I think he’s a great actor, but I won’t miss him if I know he’s coming back. He’s become so overexposed as a celebrity (mostly because of his dating antics) that I’ll be excited when he turns up after a hiatus.
Not that I have seen all his movies but to me his acting never rises above mediocre. Plus he looks like a self-satisfied puffy pumpkin. I hope he takes a LONG break.
I think the same. I find him pretty one note and lacking depth. The only film I’ve liked was Blood diamond. His films are overrated and so is Scorcese.
I love Marty! Maybe not every movie he made is up to your standards but Taxi Driver and Raging Bull are cinema must-sees.
Agree. He was good in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? but his other performances are mediocre.
He’s one of the best actors out there! I’ll miss him – glad Gatsby and Wolves are coming this year.
He is definitely one of the best. Shutter Island was really good! hell so was Gilbert Grape lol Leo is amazing !!!!
He blew me away in Gilbert Grape I knew then he would have a huge career.
I will be writing Mr. Scorsese about this.
LOL he makes me laugh, in a cute way. Maybe it’s his big head..who knows, anyway I find the surname ‘grumpy chihuahua’ really perfect.
Oh and I’m glad he’s taking a break, if he’s not always in our faces then we’ll love him more when he returns.
Leo’s a good actor, in a practiced, deliberate sort of way. I find that the spontaneity and spark he had in movies like What’s Eating Gilbert Grape and The Basketball Diaries has long gone. He’s great at picking good roles though, I’ll give him that. Some time away wouldn’t be a bad idea, there’s more to the world than Hollywood and its excesses and I applaud anyone who takes time off and a step back to discover that.
Next to What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, I think his best role was in This Boy’s Life.
He was SO good in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. I still don’t know why he didn’t get the Oscar for that one. But he kind of gave up on acting and became a “one note” like Kaiser pointed out.
I think he’ll just stop accepting films but will still be around promoting the ones he’s finished.
I really liked him in Django. I thought, coming in, I will be terribly annoyed by his performance judging from the trailers. But he’s like a spark in every scene he was in.
his “green activity” around the world will be the protection of this precious species…Victoria Secret models!
i remember when he gave many money for the tigers 2 years and Putin was very proud to meet him.Don’t forget Putin is a huge hunter (tiger,elephant,whale…) and he loves stuffed pets!
i don’t say Dicaprio isn’t honest in his activism but he’s not logic because to fly in private plane is NOT ECOLOGIC
We’ll have to wait at least another year to have a chance to miss him because 2 out of 3 movies he mentioned are still in post-production and they will probably be huge awards contenders. I really like Leo as an actor. I loved him in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? when I saw it for the first time when I was maybe 10 years old. At that time, I thought they took a real mentally handicapped boy to play Arnie and I felt so sorry for him. He has been one of my favourites ever since. I was never physically attracted to him though. Even in the Titanic era or should I say especially in the Titanic era. He was so skinny and effeminate back then. I think he looks better now but I would never crush on him and I’d rather not to think about his private life shenanigans.
Oh I like him as an actor.
And if he does take this break, I have a prediction: he’s gonna get SO FAT. Like Marlon Brando PLUS Orson Wells fat. Watch.
I read this as Leo mad at not getting an Oscar nomination for J Edgar (gay man) and Django Unchained (nasty villian). So he wants to take a break from Oscar begging. Three films in two years is not that much, the man gets plenty of time to vacation with his buds.
the problems with his Oscars snubs are
1/Leo isn’t a team player (he was nod for SAG for J EDGAR but he snubbed the ceremony for example,he snubbed oscar show when Titanic won because he was not nod)
2/ he has NOT a so very good reputation in Hollywood and he had some roles because he is on THE list of the studios:for example,he’s the lead in INCEPTION because he was the one of Warner Bros’s list given to Nolan with who Nolan was interested to work and some reports say Nolan & Dicaprio weren’t happy together (they didn’t share the same vision of his character and Nolan thought Leo was a diva because of his friends all time on the set)
He puts a option on many movie projects just for him :it’s why his IMDB’s movie projects is always full
3/blame Weinstein for this year because Waltz in supporting category is a fraud
and Leo deserved to be nominated (his role is very ricky for him) except Waltz or Jackson deserve also to be nod in my opinion
Waltz and Leo were great in Django in totally different ways. They both should have been nominated.
Er… Excuse me but Leo is one the best actors out there, as much as Christian Bale is amazing, Leo stands up right there if not above. I don’t get how the likes of Brad Pitt got Oscar nods for Moneyball whereas his J Edgar was simply outstanding, them miserable old goats at the AMPAS… Eh.
Anyway, I’ll definitely miss his presence on big screens.
He was so good in Gilbert Grape that I still see him as a sweet, mentally handicapped kid. He will never be my idea of sexy.
I agree with the others, the guy is a solid actor. He’s talented and smart. He’s also a jackass when it comes to women. In high school i had a mad crush on the guy ,but i really don’t think he’s aged well. I also admire his enviromental stand. It’s a worthy cause and he has shown he lives what he preaches.
The only problem is they all bring out their posters when it is work related topic to gratify them, that is hollywood actors for you.
Yes I’ll miss him! I’ll never let go….
Lol Jocelyn!!
He used to be cute but now, that giant head? WTH did it come from? It’s also weird that it’s shaped like a big slice of bread.
I can’t stop seeing Leo’s head on a piece of toast now. I also can’t stop laughing about it.
I go to see Tarantino films ALONE!! I don’t want to discuss/argue the political or violence issues, because if it came to a vote I would have to agree – I believe his films are violent, lets just say he is my guilty pleasure.
Django Unchained further surprised me with a Great Show from Dicaprio. Candie is Corrupt and believable as such, usually I am not as convinced by Dicaprio.
“Leo” was robbed, for this film he should have received a nomination. And YES – I will miss him if he stops for two (?) years.
Riiiiight. We all know this man has very little substance. All he does is party on yachts with models and his “bro” douchebag friends. He’s a good actor but I have absolutely no respect for the man. It’d be nice if every movie he made wasn’t some boring Oscar bait project(J Edgar). That said I really liked him in Django and Shutter Island.
His best was The Departed. It’s actually good that he’s taking a break. He’s worked on so many movies with very short gaps. I believe that actors should take a break to regenerate like DDL. I know most won’t accept the DDL route because 5 years between each film is very long. To each his own but yes, it’s always good to break in between. They won’t appear repetitive. I won’t miss him, but I’ll definitely be excited to see him back on screen after the break. Hope the break is not for 6 months or a year. Leo is like Tom Cruise for me (not the crazy Cruise). I enjoy their movies, both are intelligent entertainers and dedicated to work but I have never fan girl-ed over them.
His IMDB is insane!!! He’s never taken more than 2 years off since he was 16! That’s crazy in the entertainment business. It’s unreal how successful he’s been commercially and critically. When I think of his career the only real misstep I can think of is “The Beach.” Pretty much everything else is great.
Although I absolutely agree about Inception, I like Leo as an actor. I think he was fantastic in Gilbert Grape and The Aviator and he may be the factor that tips me in favor of Django.
I am so excited about Gatsby I had to watch the trailers yesterday just to tide me over.
I bet his “break” from acting will only last a week or so.
I’m taking an indefinite break from Celebitchy……to go to lunch. Leo will not be taking that long of a break; he loves this sh-t.
Yes I’ll miss him. He’s a great, underrated actor.
I so agree with you Bedhead Inception was so overated a great cast but a very standard Sci-fi script and DiCaprio had the same role as he did in Shutter Island. On the otherhand he was the best part of Django
Eh, he’ll be back in 2014. Actors always say this and then have another movie lined up a year later. A year is a long hiatus for us normal people, but in Hollywood it’s not that long.
“I’ll fly around the world doing good for the environment” – now, does that make any sense to anyone?!?! These limousine liberal celebrities are so caught up in looking like they’re doing something self sacrificing and noble, they don’t comprehend the ridiculous statements they make. How is burning tons of jet fuel, so he can span the globe in search of good press and photo ops going to help the environment? Talk about a carbon footprint! He would do better spending a year picking up trash along LA freeways. What a self-serving hypocrite!
I will miss him, I think he is a brilliant actor. Am I the only one who thinks he looks older than 38??!!!
I think he’s one of teh best actors out there and yeah, I’d miss him if he took a break, although I’d not begrudge him the break.
As far as his snubbing this award show or that–good for him. Too many politics going on in Hollywood, and even if he is being a pouty baby, that’s really his business, not ours. Doesn’t affect us one iota. I do think he is an absolutely amazing actor, though.
Yay! And how many Vitoria’s Secret models is he taking with him on his quest to save the world?
I confess that I really liked most of his movies, but I tend to think that it’s more because of him being given great roles then due to his acting skills…If he goes away they will give this great roles to someone else that is not so boring, so…iupi?
HE SO FREAKN HAWT
He has 3 movies to be released back to back. He just doesn’t want to over saturate the public.
I find him really douche-y but he’s a pretty talented actor. He can be intense without chewing scenery like Christian Bale does. Hopefully he’ll come back with another good role after he’s done banging some more 20 something blonde models on this ‘break’ break of his.
I don’t think Leo can survive away from the spotlight and red carpets.
Yes, I would definitely miss him.
He was brilliant in “What’s eating Gilbert Grape” among many great performances but he’s gotten so jowly and old looking beyond his years that his days as a leading man should be over.
By the time all 3 of those movies come out (with all the promos and what I assume will be an Oscar campaign), I think it would be a good idea for him to lay low for a while. I’m not really sick of him now but I’m pretty sure I will be by then. The part about flying around the world for the environment is funny though. Maybe he intends to do it in a hot air balloon?
Good. See ya!
Aging well: he is not.
I’ll admit it: I’m going to miss Leonardo DiCatchAHo (credit to Dlisted for that one) terribly if he is indeed taking a break. Soo many movies now are fucking terrible, made for sequels with sad excuses for PR-fueled “actors.” Leo is the new standard of quality, IMO. I don’t find him one-note at all, unlike say George Clooney or Tom Cruise. He tends to do a slew of dramatic movies back-to-back which is where that sentiment may come from. Anyways, the flying around the world bit is very silly. I’ll just try to ignore that.
P.S. It’s not on his IMDB list anymore, but recently I saw he was attached to a Mel Gibson-directed viking epic. That needs to happen.
If anything George Clooney should get the Oscar for Best One Note Actor in a One Note Leading Role category, from drama to comedy, dude is exactly the same!!!
Tom Cruise thing is at one point he was such a good actor and showed versatility especially in the 90’s but since CO$ took over his head and career, all he does is action flick after action flick, repetitive indeed!
I find it unfair that Leo isn’t getting more credit, because not only he works his a$$ off but he really does justice to the characters he plays, one hell of an actor no doubt, one of those few left who care about their craft.
Yes, I agree about Clooney, but I think there’s a place for his type of actor-it’s old school-he has a screen presence, non threatening and engaging to watch…..look at the classic films-there’s a whole cadre of actors who fit that role, too….
I enjoy Clooney-he’s got that debonair/dashing vibe. No, I don’t fan girl him or go out of my way to see his movies; I just enjoy what he does and find it believable-i don’t normally feel like i am watching clooney rather than the character, like some of these one note, PR machine ‘actors’ today….
clooney was good in burn after reading and other cohen brothers films, as well as Up in the Air [overrated movie IMO, but he was good in it…. albeit, yes, not that different than his other roles]. He picks the right choices, usually, for his range. meh-i like him alright; he doesn’t seem to take himself too seriously and likes his job/doesn’t complain or whine about being a famous actor.
Leo is good but at times ‘phoning it in’, in recent years. so perhaps a break will do him well in that regard.
I agree completely, Cruise & Clooney are one note, while DiCaprio can really bring it. He is the one others are measured against these days.
I, for one, will miss him.
Celebrity activists, always lousy with math.
I have always had a love/hate relationship w/Leo. No doubt he’s a legitimate talent but he can be such a condescending douche or at least come off as one. He’s been privileged his entire life and can have any women he pleases – guess that’s not the recipe for humility. Committing to environmental causes is a valuable use of his fame and assets. He can go away for awhile in my opinion – in fact I think it would be refreshing for both him and his fans.
Won’t miss him at all!!
Me neither.
Yeah, I will miss him too. Maybe he ought to hook up with Weinstein. That is probably the only way he will win an Oscar at this point.
Am I the only one struck by the fact that he believes no “normal” person drives more than 30 miles a day?
Wow. I guess I’m the only person here who absolutely HATED Gilbert Grape and thought his performance was overwrought, unrealistic, and hammy. Which is, quite honestly, what I think of most of his performances. IMO he is mostly serviceable and does a decent enough job, but maybe the Academy is “snubbing” him for a reason. I certainly don’t think he has deserved an Oscar for any performance and I most assuredly would not place his potato head in the same category as Bale and DDL. (I haven’t seen Django yet, though.)
no you’re not alone, I thought I was the only one, his performance in Gilbert grape was a caricature, nothing subtle
he’s let himself go so much. he looks like sh*t. i doubt a female contemporary in the biz would be able to get away with looking a bloated droopy mess like that.
yeah, he does look like s*it. and we should so call him on it, b/c people always call out overweight/underweight women.
I can’t help it. I’ll always like Leo.
No.
He looks like a constipated Cabbage Patch Doll. Not a face for movies anymore. Retire in dignity absolutely.
He was good when he was younger, especially Marvin’s Room and Catch Me If You Can.
He always chooses the right projects. I really enjoyed many movies he was in , with the exception of “The Beach”. I will never forget Gilbert Grape,Candie (he was the best part of Django!), the departed, shutter island, catch me if you can… The list goes on and on. It’s time for the Academy to reevaluate its “reasons” to nominate actors and give the award for those who deserve, and stop the popularity contest.
ps: Enjoy your break Leo! Maybe settle down with a VS model, have a couple of babies…
pps: He must be a super diva because I never understood why the other Diva, Clooney, did not mention Leo in his Golden Globes acceptance speech last year. It spoke volumes to me, considering that Leo produced “The Ides of March”.
Nope. As long as there is Ryan Gosling there is ABSOLUTELY no need for Leo.
Ryan is hotter, younger and a better actor. AND he dates awesome women, too!
Ryan Gosling looks like a horse.
More than Sarah Jessica Parker!!
blassssssphemyyyyy!!!! 🙂
(i put a smile, but no really, it is blasphemy. i HATE sjp and lurvvvv me some ryan gosling.)
i will miss him. i think he’s one of the greatest film actors and i’ve started to love him. shutter island, the departed, and inception were so good because of his awesome portrayals.
Love the hell of his Performance in Django Unchained. He was robbed in the Oscar
I think he is a brilliant actor, buy a very shallow man who only dates bimbos. You can tell alot about a man by who he picks as a mate.
I like him as an actor and see a lot of his films, but I can’t say I’ll miss him if he takes time off.
Time off is a good thing, and he’s been doing a lot of very high profile, high expectation films.
He’s always been passed over for an award, and both he and his mother have always been humiliated by this, although it has happened so much, they must be used to it by now. As to missing him, there are so many other good actors out there, so no, I won’t be missing him. It’s too bad he’s such a womanizer, because it’s the one thing about him that I find unfortunate.
I watched Romeo + Juliet three other night. I had forgotten how gorgeous he was then. He really has not aged well. He’s has a fat baby face with jowls and huge bags under his eyes. He can definitely act, I”ve known that since Gilbert Grape. I just don’t think he should be cast as the “good looking” guy anymore.
wtf do women see in him?
What is happening to his face?
Soon he’s not going to be able to play anything but the villian if his face keeps going in that direction.
He’s my boyfriend’s boy crush. I know this because my boyfriend told me. When I laughed at him for admitting it, he was all ‘What? He’s good looking and a great actor…and don’t think I don’t notice the way you salivate over Liz Hurley in a low cut dress.’ He doesn’t read gossip though, so he doesn’t realize Leo’s a d-bag.
Leo’s career has declined in inverse proportion to his rate of dating VS models (no they’re not supermodels).
Last good movie he did was Blood Diamond. Although Gatsby does look good.
Foxtel has a montage of well-known actors on their current movie channel ad. Leo is featured in his Romeo role. Agree with blogger above. Hasn’t aged well at all.