AlthoughLeonardo DiCapriomight be a Hollywood icon and an awards-season mainstay, the actor has somehow steered clear of one highly acclaimed movie genre throughout his 34-year career.Leonardo DiCaprio’s upcoming serial killer movieproves that the actor has no aversion to dark roles. Most recently,Killers of the Flower Moonsaw DiCaprio risk his charming leading man image for the umpteenth time by playing the odious real-life murderer Ernest Burkhart.
In earlier years, DiCaprio was lauded for playing the amoral Wall Street crook Jordan Belfort inThe Wolf of Wall Street, a laughably insecure, over-the-hill Western star inOnce Upon A Time… In Hollywood, and the vile plantation owner Calvin Candy inDjango Unchained.Many ofLeonardo DiCaprio’s best moviescast him not as morally pure sweethearts, but as flawed and fascinating figures. These roles prove that DiCaprio is unafraid of parts that explore the darker side of humanity, so it is surprising to learn that he has thus far steered clear of one genre.
Despite Being One Of Hollywood’s Biggest Actors For 30 Years, Leonardo DiCaprio Hasn’t Done A War Movie
DiCaprio’s Lengthy Screen Career Has Never Seen Him Star In A War Movie
Throughout the star’s 34-year career,Leonardo DiCaprio has somehow never starred in a war movie. The A-list star has appeared in 40 movies and, although war features as a plot element in a handful of them, none could reasonably be considered war movies. What makes this striking is the fact that most of DiCaprio’s A-list contemporaries, like Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, and George Clooney, have all starred in numerous war movies. DiCaprio’sGangs of New Yorkfollows a gang war and 2006’sBlood Diamondtakes place against the backdrop of Sierra Leon’s civil war, but that’s about it.
Clooney appeared inSyriana,The Thin Red Line,The Men Who Stare At Goats, andThree Kings, but any appearance from war in DiCaprio’s movies is strictly in a background role.
Pitt has starred inFury,War Machine, Allied, andInglorious Basterds, while Cruise starred inValkyrie,Taps,Lions for Lambs, andBorn on the Fourth of July. Clooney appeared inSyriana,The Thin Red Line,The Men Who Stare At Goats, andThree Kings, but any appearance from war in DiCaprio’s movies is strictly in a background role.The Revenantalludes to conflicts between Native Americans and European invaders, but the movie is primarily concerned with one man’s survival in an inhospitable climate. Similarly, sprawling historical dramas likeThe AviatorandJ. Edgarfeature wars as incidental details in their broader stories.
Leonardo DiCaprio’s Previous Roles Prove He’d Be Perfect In A War Movie
DiCaprio’s Work Suggests He Is A Good Fit For The Genre
The fact that one ofDiCaprio’s most forgotten rolescame in 2008’s Iraq War espionage thrillerBody of Liesmight explain his reticence around exploring the genre. However, DiCaprio should not be put off war movies permanently. The star’s work to date proves that he would be perfect for a war movie given his skill at getting under the skin of morally compromised, flawed protagonists. DiCaprio’s ability to humanize even figures like Burkhart and Belfort makes him ideally suited a war movie.
InRevolutionary RoadandShutter Island, DiCaprio offered two very different portraits of men whose grasp on their lives and sanity were gradually loosening despite their best efforts. Carrying this same intensity into the world of war movies could allow the star to capture the mental toll that conflict takes on participants. Thus,Leonardo DiCapriocould make a rare movie that doesn’t unintentionally glamorize the spectacle of war.
