Leonardo DiCaprio has been acting since 2000.
Leonardo DiCaprio . DiCaprio began his career by appearing in television commercials in the early 1990s , after which he had recurring roles in various television series such as the soap opera Santa Barbara and the sitcom Growing Pains . He starred in the film adaptation of the memoir This Boy 's Life ( 1993 ) , and was praised for his supporting role in What 's Eating Gilbert Grape ( 1993 ) . He gained public recognition with leading roles in The Basketball Diaries ( 1995 ) and the romantic drama Romeo + Juliet ( 1996 ) , before achieving international fame with James Cameron 's epic romance Titanic ( 1997 ) , which became the highest-grossing film of all time until Cameron 's science fiction film Avatar ( 2009 ) overtook it . DiCaprio 's subsequent films include The Man in the Iron Mask ( 1998 ) , the biographical crime drama Catch Me If You Can ( 2002 ) , and the epic historical drama Gangs of New York ( 2002 ) , which marked his first of many collaborations with director Martin Scorsese .