Leonardo DiCaprio owes his acting career to LA and feels like he 'hit the lottery'

11 April 2012
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Leonardo DiCaprio doesn't think he would have been an actor if he hadn't grown up in Los Angeles.


Lucky: Leonardo Dicaprio doesn't take anything for granted

The Inception actor - who started appearing in TV shows and commercials aged 13 - insists he was only able to follow his dream because he lived so close to where many major movies are made, making it easier for him to attend auditions.

He said: "My earliest memories were of wanting to be an actor, and ironically I lived in LA but never felt like I could be a part of that club, so it was merely the fact I was in such close proximity to be able to go to auditions after school.

"Certainly I think if we had lived in a different state then we wouldn't have had the means to be able to go and live in Los Angeles."

The 35-year-old star insists he is still thankful for his success and would never take anything for granted.

He added in an interview with US TV show Entertainment Tonight: "I got immersed in this world and feel extremely lucky every day, I feel like I hit the lottery and I don't take it for granted."

Leonardo - who is dating model Bar Rafaeli - loves being able to relax with his family and friends, even though his celebrity status is a source of ridicule for them.

He said: "What keeps me grounded is my friends and family and being able to joke around and have a sense of humour. They laugh at me about everything and I give it right back. Being able to have the sanctity of people you know and love and trust really makes you feel safe in this environment."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in