An Interestin Life: A Legacy for the World: Leonardo Di Caprio

Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio

Born in 1974 in Los Angeles, California, Leonardo DiCaprio is an actor and a film producer known for his edgy, unconventional roles. In the early 1990s, DiCaprio began his career by appearing in television commercials, after which he had recurring roles in various television series. He then moved on to film, scoring an Oscar nomination for his role in What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993). In 1997, DiCaprio starred in James Cameron's epic drama Titanic, which made him a huge star. His more recent films include Inception (2010), Django Unchained (2012), The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) and The Revenant (2015), winning his first Oscar for the latter. 

We think he is really interesting because besides being an incredible famous actor and a film producer, he cares and has time for being an environmentalist too. In 2000, he hosted an Earth Day celebration and interviewed former U.S. President Bill Clinton for a television segment about global warming. DiCaprio also wrote, narrated and produced The 11th Hour, an environmental documentary that was released in 2007.  

From a benefit "11th Hour" fine art auction he organized in 2013, he raised nearly $40 million to toward his foundation. He told attendees, "Bid as if the fate of the planet depended on us." It became the world's highest-grossing environmental charity event ever held. DiCaprio states that global warming is the world's "number-one environmental challenge". In July 2016 his foundation awarded $15.6 million to help protect wildlife and the rights of Native Americans, along with combating climate change. 

At the 2016 Oscar ceremony, DiCaprio won the award for Best Actor. He used his acceptance speech to express his appreciation and worry for the environment: “Climate change is real, it is happening right now. It is the most urgent threat facing our entire species, and we need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating. We need to support leaders around the world who do not speak for the big polluters, but who speak for all of humanity, for the indigenous people of the world, for the billions and billions of underprivileged people out there who would be most affected by this. For our children’s children and for those people out there whose voices have been drowned out by the politics of greed.” 

You can see the entire video of his speech here:  

By Justina Collivignarelli, Milagros Saldaño, Mauricio Favaloro, Benito Lunaschi and Juan Martin Carnero