Leonardo DiCaprio is one of the most popular and critically acclaimed movie stars of the modern era, but he’d have fit in perfectly during the Golden Age of Hollywood. The 46 year-old is very selective about the projects he chooses to sign on to, makes a point of collaborating with the finest directors in the industry, lends other filmmakers a hand through his Appian Way Productions, rarely gives interviews when he’s not on the promotional trail and can regularly be spotted in glamorous locations around the world with a supermodel on his arm.
Next year marks the 30th anniversary of his big screen debut in Critters 3, and DiCaprio’s trophy cabinet has been filled to the brim over the intervening decades. He finally put the online discourse to bed when he scooped the long awaited Academy Award for Best Actor at the fifth time of asking thanks to The Revenant, while he’s also won two Golden Globes from twelve nominations.
The Titanic star has built up a phenomenal body of work ever since he was a teenager, no doubt, and three wildly different entries in his back catalogue are coming to Netflix next month. For starters, there’s 1993’s What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, which brought Leonardo DiCaprio the first Oscar nod of his career, with the young actor stealing the show in Lasse Hallstrom’s acclaimed drama.
Steven Spielberg’s playful Catch Me If You Can is also heading to the streaming service, and the stylish caper is one of both the director and leading man’s most purely entertaining and enjoyable movies. Martin Scorsese’s The Departed, meanwhile, is on the way as well and finally won the cinema legend a Best Director statue at the Oscars, and while it isn’t his best by any means, the remake of Hong Kong classic Infernal Affairs is impeccably cast and masterfully acted from top to bottom, making all three of these flicks worth adding to your watch list when they drop on January 1st.
