History Lessons From Hollywood
Leonardo DiCaprio’s latest movie, the frontier survival drama The Revenant, is based on Michael Punke’s 2002 novel of the same name about real-life American frontiersman-hero Hugh Glass, whose 19th century exploits made him legendary. Here are 10 other DiCaprio movies that have bridged Hollywood with American history.
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) His scamming-stockbroker character was based on Jordan Belfort and his 2007 memoir.
The Great Gatsby (2013) DiCaprio’s starring role as fictional Jay Gatsby anchored the movie’s swirling portrait of youthful Jazz Age recklessness and intoxicating Roaring Twenties decadence.
Django Unchained (2012) Quentin Tarantino’s slave-revenge drama put a gleefully bloody twist on the all-too-real horrors of a chapter of America’s dark, not-too-distant past.
J. Edgar (2011) Clint Eastwood directed DiCaprio in the title role of this biopic about the director of the FBI, who kept secret files on a lot of folks—and had deep secrets of his own.
The Departed (2006) This fourOscar-winning, Martin Scorsese– directed gangster epic seemed authentic because it was. Characters played by DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson and Matt Damon were all based on real people.
The Aviator (2004) As the millionaire movie mogul and airplane enthusiast Howard Hughes, DiCaprio
wasn’t the only star keeping it real. There was also Cate Blanchett (as Katharine Hepburn), Jude Law (Errol Flynn), Gwen Stefani (Jean Harlow), Kate Beckinsale (Ava Gardner), Alan Alda (U.S. Sen. Owen Brewster) and Alec Baldwin (Juan Trippe, the founder of Pan Am airlines).
Catch Me If You Can (2002) Before his 19th birthday, Frank Abagnale Jr. (DiCaprio) produced millions of dollars worth of counterfeit payroll checks by impersonating an airline pilot, a doctor and a lawyer.
Gangs of New York (2002) The Big Apple-to-be of the 1860s was a pretty rotten place, full of lowlifes, pickpockets, murderers and, yes, plenty of gangs—as depicted in director Martin Scorsese’s sprawling saga, nominated for 10 Oscars and loosely based on the 1928 book The Gangs of New York: An Informal History of the Underworld.
Titanic (1997) A box-office smash, a soaring love story and an epic dramatization of the best-known ship disaster of all time—writerdirector James Cameron’s pair-up of DiCaprio and Kate Winslet as starcrossed lovers aboard the doomed luxury liner was movie magic. The ship sank, duh, but the movie steamed triumphantly into port with 11 Oscars.
This Boy’s Life (1993) Starring as a rebellious teen in this powerful drama about growing up in the 1950s, based on the memoir of writer and literature professor Tobias Wolff, DiCaprio, then 19, was roundly praised for his breakout performance alongside Robert De Niro, who played his abusive father.