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!
ยท Amanda Seyfried Says Her 'Red Riding Hood' Boss Leonardo DiCaprio Is Like Robert De Niro [Access Hollywood]