8) The Aviator
DiCaprio’s first film with Scorsese was Gangs of New York, but the pair didn’t really hit their collaborative stride until The Aviator. Where in Gangs DiCaprio seems uncertain of himself, battling with an accent (never his forte) and struggling to catch up with Daniel Day-Lewis, in The Aviator we find him inching closer to being comfortable with the leading man status Hollywood has been thrusting upon him his whole career.
DiCaprio’s no physical match of Howard Hughes, but he captures the eccentricity, the ambition and the frustration of being a genius restrained by ever-worsening psychological ailments. As the film progresses, DiCaprio is required to become increasingly tic-y, as Hughes’ OCD reaches debilitating levels, but it never seems forced or artificial. It’s an attractive, charming performance giving way to an all-too pained one.