Do We Consider Leonardo DiCaprio 'Old' Already?
While making the press rounds for Red Riding Hood, Amanda Seyfried compared Leonardo DiCaprio (who produced the film) to veteran actor/director/producer Robert De Niro because, like the legend, DiCaprio inspired "weird tension," awe and inferiority complexes on set. That's a compliment, I think, except for the fact that the two-time Oscar winner is 67 years old and DiCaprio is just 36. And now, of course, we are faced with the titular question, "Do we consider Leonardo DiCaprio 'old' already?"
If "old" is gauged by how long an actor has been working in Hollywood, DiCaprio is old. He's been acting opposite A-list actors ever since 1993, when (coincidentally) De Niro cast him as his stepson-to-be in This Boy's Life. This means that DiCaprio has been working alongside Oscar winners for over half of his life. But does the industry consider the actor "old?"
After years of playing tragedy-bound drifters, con artists, mentally ill teens and star-crossed lovers, DiCaprio made the parental casting jump in 2008 when, for the first time, the actor played a father -- albeit, the miserable father -- in Revolutionary Road. Since then, DiCaprio has played the parental part in Shutter Island (middle-aged widower/ father/U.S. Marshall) and Inception (middle-aged widower/father/corporate espionage thief).
On top of cornering the middle-aged widower/father market in cinema (which has aged the actor if not qualified him as old), DiCaprio remains committed to environmental activism which not only bores Us Weekly readers, but ages an actor in the eyes of the U.S. audience. If that isn't enough to make him fit for this generation's Werther's spokesman, his vocal support for political figures like Al Gore, John Kerry, Barack Obama and Russian Prime minister Vladimir Putin basically makes the Oscar nominee an AARP member to the 11-year-old girls who taped his Titanic poster to their ceiling back in '97.
Finally, his transitioning role from actor to producer (which started back in 2004 with The Assassination of Richard Nixon) does put DiCaprio in elder Hollywood territory. Especially when considering that he never makes headlines for machete outbursts, domestic disputes or drug busts.
In review, DiCaprio's real age is 36. His Hollywood casting age is "middle-aged." And his Hollywood maturity age, compared to Charlie Sheen, is straight-up "old." Which maybe isn't such a bad thing after all. Viva la AARP!
· Amanda Seyfried Says Her 'Red Riding Hood' Boss Leonardo DiCaprio Is Like Robert De Niro [Access Hollywood]
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Comments
I am one of those 11-year-old girls who taped his Titanic poster to their ceiling back in 1997. And let me just say, that young or old, Leo will always be do-able.
uh yeah like WTF he's like starting to mold
Yet more weak journalism.
Yet more weak comments.
This must have been a slow news day. Seyfried didn't compare his age to DeNiro's, and that alone should have prevented this post from being written. Hey, maybe she is comparing DiCaprio to DeNiro because they are both Italian! Seyfried didn't say that either, but maybe you could write something about that tomorrow.
The answer to this article is he is 36yrs old. Not particularly old, but maybe to a teenager he is old-ish. Sharon Stone was 36 when she did Basic Instinct (I think) and I was all over that shit. So I kinda doubt he's seen as being particularly old. I think what you're going for here is like when my mom saw an interview of Redford and out of the blue it's like "my god I remember when he was good looking." And my sister would be like "THAT old man?"
not old, but worn.
The biggest problem I had with Inception was Leo's age. Not that he was too old but too young! I just didn't buy his whole 50-year love story because he just doesn't have the gravitas that many actors his age have. I didn't buy that he'd been with that psycho for a week! He just doesn't seem to have matured as much as his body has.
Hey, maybe she is comparing DiCaprio to DeNiro because they are both Italian! Seyfried didn't say that either, but maybe you could write something about that tomorrow.
In both 'Shutter Island' and 'Inception' he played a YOUNG father; not a middle-aged one. Get your facts straight.
In Hollywood, age is not a big deal, as long as you look the part. For example in 'Clueless' Stacey Dash played a 16 year old, when in real life she was nearly 30.
Since when has Amanda Seyfried been considered a font of wisdom? Why base an entire article on a quote from an actress, who obviously has no clue what she is talking about?
Couldn't agree more. Leo DiCaprio, "old"? I'm sorry, but I don't think he has lost any of his sexieness since he played Jack Dawson in Titanic. He's just a mature, well-accomplished actor. You can't blaime him for that!!!
And as for Amanda Seyfried, I think that when pretty girls don't know what to say, they should simply keep their mouths shut!